This review will have minimal spoilers without context. Since this is a suspense thriller, I don’t wanna spoil it because it has so many twists and turns and the enjoyment is guessing who did what as the story unfolds. So I don’t wanna spoil it.
First of all, the title is not fitting — “The Weekend Away.” It sounds boring. I almost didn’t watch because of the title. It should’ve been called everybody is a suspect since you will be suspicious of everybody in this film. But, this is an adaptation of Sarah Alderson’s novel by the same name. She also wrote the screenplay.
“The Weekend Away” was directed by Kim Farrant and stars Leighton Meester and Christina Wolfe.
Now this role is a far cry from trust-fund kid, Blair Waldorf in “Gossip Girl.” This character wears mom jeans, no makeup and packs a breast pump.
Leighton plays Beth, a new mother with postpartum whose marriage is going through a “rough patch.” She’s been putting off self-care for more than a year and finally caves to leaving baby with dad for a weekend away with her best friend, Kate, in Croatia.
Christina Wolfe plays Beth’s best friend, Kate, from college, Kate, who’s going through a divorce, is enjoying the single life on her estranged husband’s Amex.
Soon as Beth arrives in Croatia, Kate drags her out for a night of dinner, boozing and clubbing — her treat. When Beth confesses that her marriage is a bit rock, Kate suggests she leave him. This makes you suspect that Kate is up to nefarious things to just tell her best friend to leave her husband over a “rough patch” in her marriage. Is she jealous? Is she being a good friend? Is Kate and Beth’s husband consorting against Beth?
At the club, Kate introduces Beth to a couple of male escorts. It looks like the escorts roofied Beth’s drink because she’s barely coherent for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Beth is in bed with no memory of how she got there.
Okay, so here’s the thing. And no shade to Lifetime Network, but this is better than your typical Lifetime movie. This is a great weekend chill movie with lots of twists and turns. It kept me intrigued, guessing who suspects were, beat after beat, by process of elimination. I went from thinking it was like “The Hangover” to “Double Jeopardy” to “A Perfect Murder” to “Fatal Attraction.” All those good suspense thrillers that keep your mind churning with investigative theories.
Some are comparing this film to the Amanda Knox story. I didn’t get those vibes at all, but I can see how people could derive similarities during the First Act.
So, when Beth awakens in the bed in the morn, hungover, she can’t remember a thing. And, she cant find Kate. Kate’s not answering her phone, not answering texts.
Beth finally speaks with the building super to inquire if he’s seen Kate. Again, everybody is a suspect, he acts especially suspicious. He tells Beth that no extra guests are allowed without notice and that she’ll be charged for having those two men over.
So, he’s been watching them since we know they got home really late. But now he’s got Beth, married mom, thinking that she’s hooked up with a stranger or both.
So, without giving too much away, Beth’s gotta piece together this mystery of what happened the night before and find out if her missing friend is playing a game or if she’s been killed.
You probably won’t guess who did what and when, because again, everyone is sus.
I really enjoyed this film. Leighton did a decent job. She doesn’t overact or under-react even though tragedy is happening in her world.
There are a couple of holes in the story left unanswered, particularly in the Third Act, which is why I rate this film 3.5 out of 5 Stars.
But, I love that it was written, directed and centrally casts women.
The Weekend Away is currently trending Top 10 on Netflix. I highly recommend seeing it.
