Synopsis
Ku Klux Klansman Mike Burden opens the Redneck Shop and KKK museum in historic Laurens, SC. He subsequently falls in love with a single mother and, under her influence, quits the Klan and is taken in by an African American Reverend.
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Cast
- Garrett HedlundMike Burden
- Andrea RiseboroughJudy
- Forest WhitakerReverend Kennedy
- Tom WilkinsonTom Griffin
- UsherClarence Brooks
- Tess HarperHazel
- Anna ColwellMolly
- Austin HébertClint
- Dexter DardenKelvin Kennedy
- Taylor GregoryFranklin
Recommendations
- 91
IndieWire
As Burden, Garrett Hedlund astonishes in a nuanced portrait of a man resistant to change, until he finally comes to understand that hatred is literally killing him. - 80
Variety
Hedlund’s humble, hard-to-love performance makes the aptly named Burden work as both a portrait of one weak-minded man, and as a study of the ideas people carry without questioning why. - 75
The Film Stage
There’s a lot to chew on here, and if Burden is ultimately buried by its muddled central character, it’s as much a testament to the filmmaker’s refusal to sugarcoat this story as it is a criticism of the final product. - 63
The Associated Press
For all of the inherent drama, it becomes clear that Burden, the man at the center of a film which bears his name, is really just a cipher, a sponge upon which we put meaning. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
It’s an eyebrow-raising true tale, one aided and abetted onscreen by the solid cast and strong sense of commitment. But Heckler is caught somewhere between being a journalistic historian and a dramatist without seeming expert at either. His screenplay connects all the dots of the story with no sense of shaping or modulation. - 50
The Playlist
What keeps Burden captivating are the performances, especially from Riseborough, Whitaker and Wilkinson, consummate pros that give their characters flesh and blood dimension. - 50
The A.V. Club
Overly simplistic piece of Southern poverty porn, which asks questions it’s not really prepared to answer and proceeds from a set of dubious assumptions that undermine whatever nuance it does possess. - 50
The New York Times
Though the themes of Burden feel uncomfortably current, their execution is leaden and dismayingly artless.
