A woman's body floats downstream in deep water as sober cello music swells. A quick headline and later dissolves and the water, bodyless, is now bright and inviting. The camera pans over a picturesque coastal Croatian town. Everything sunshine and palm trees as bright-eyed new mom Beth (Leighton Meester) makes her way by taxi to the girls on the weekend away with best friend Kate (Christina Wolfe).
In free fall after the dissolution of her marriage, the entire journey is on Kate, including the most succulent AirBnB, raw oysters and copious amounts of wine. They have been best friends since Beth's semester abroad in England, during which Kate introduced Beth to her now-husband Rob (Luke Norris). The women have been a bit distant since the birth of Beth's daughter, Esther. By the end of Beth and Kate's weekend, one of them will have died.
Written by Sarah Alderson from her own novel and directed by Kim Farrant, the new Netflix thriller "The Weekend Away" is cut from the same fabric as great cheesy '90s thrillers like "Double Jopardy," where the plot There are more twists than Naagin. Beth's taxi takes the roads to her AirBnB. But that's fine. The joy of such a thriller is to be lost in its locales and trapped in the web that it spins.
Farrant and cinematographer Noah Greenberg captured the alluring sunny beauty of Split, Croatia with fluid camera movements. The pink sunset stands in contrast to the ancient stone buildings. Filmmakers frame the actors like classic postcards or vacation photos, with the cityscape always in the distance behind them. Even during the dark turns of the film, the tourist vibes remain as if the entire film is told through a slideshow that depicts the most disastrous escape ever.
Contrary to both flair and style, introvert Beth opted for a sage green crochet dress for her big night out, chopping hair and no makeup; The extroverted Kate, on the other hand, wears bright red lips and teal sequins. Meester is excellent at mixing the exhaustion of the new mom with the excitement she clearly feels again with Kate. Meanwhile Wolff resonates through his brief presence, high on God knows if and ready to paint the city red.
Their "one night of excitement" to get Beth out of her rut begins at a smoky neon-lit bar where they meet some handsome men, and ends with Kate's disappearance. Unfortunately, the opening shot stirs up a lot of tension here as we know Kate's fate long before Beth. However, this part of the film is about the chemistry between Beth and Zayn (a soulmate Ziad Bakri), a cab driver and a Syrian refugee who helps him get back at night. Does all this make logical sense? no not really. But Bakri infuses his character with such a rich interiority and personal code of conduct that you almost buy what the film is selling.
Films like this live and die on the commitment of their lead performances and whether audiences root for a way out of this mess. Meester has always had an incredibly likable screen presence and the film intelligently rests on its approach, anchoring the audience's investment in it. In more emotional scenes, Farrant doesn't shy away from classic close-ups, allowing Meester to show off his expressive eyes.
Beyond the twist's pleasant shock factor—I screamed "What?!" More than once—the film explores the idea of faith. Beth trusts Kate, even when she tells her to do things outside of her comfort zone. This is the basis of their friendship. Beth trusts Zayn. "The heart is your guide," he tells her in Arabic as the police try to make him doubt this trust. Beth trusts her instincts, even when the police, Kate's estranged husband Jay (Parth Thakrar), and even her own husband, Rob, try to make her suspect that she is at her best. What's true about dude. While some of the weight of what the film wants to say about gaslighting is undone by the ridiculous plot, Meester and Bakri's groundbreaking performances keep the story at the root.
"The Weekend Away" is the best kind of intentionally absurd potboiler. The scenery is gorgeous, the twists keep the adrenaline pumping, and the performances are memorable. Even if you don't remember everything that happens, you'll have a great time as long as it lasts.