The Weekend Away

If you go away for the weekend, you'd think it would be good for you. It usually is ... unless you go with a friend that ... well disppears on you. Or does she? That is the mystery to solve ... and a lot of stuff is being discovered while the friend is missing.

Having said that, the thriller aspect of the movie works partly. There are things that do not really work. And the very last twist is almost a bit too much ... especially because I reckon most see it coming anyway - or expect it to be more exact.

Acting is fine (again apart from that final twist that is a bit too on the nose) and if you don't have high expectations, this will satisfy your thrill needs ...

Apart from its lovely Croatian setting, the best parts of The Weekend Away include a pretty good showing from Leighton Meester and an intriguing first act. About one-thirds in, I realized that this would be nothing more than a formulaic thriller sans any deeper narrative arcs. And the film didn't attempt anything to prove me wrong. It uses the same tropes as a dozen similar murder-mystery thrillers before it. Some of them include adultery and voyeurism angles, a stranger who's unflinchingly ready to help, and a couple of throwaway twists. Where the film utterly fails is in showcasing the friendship between the protagonist and the murdered woman, not giving us enough material to even consider a deeper, more psychologically driven angle. The Weekend Away seems content sticking to its barebones, neither giving Meester a worthwhile outing nor being a pulpy little mystery.

A good old fashioned murder mystery set against a beautiful backdrop. It's come in for some criticism, but I personally really enjoyed it. Something almost a bit 60's TV show about the story, if you're a fan of movies like A Simple Favour, you'll enjoy this.

Plenty of twists, and they keep on coming, right up until the very end, by the end of the movie, you're unsure if you know what's happened, or if there are still further revelations.

Leighton Meester and Christina Wolf are both really good as the central characters, both are convincing and sincere.

Better than you may think, 7/10.

Definitely not the best movie ever, the plot and acting could have definitely been better. But it could have also been worse. It has a little twist at the end but also not too surprising, kind of predictable. It's an enjoyable movie for a no-brainer kind of movie night. Don't expect too much from it but it's enjoyable enough.

I really liked this film. I thought it had great suspense and the stakes were always high for the lead. Plus, the scenery of the country were beautiful. I, overall, thought the setups were cleverly executed. It was also lovely to see Leighton in a film; she should get hired more.