The Longest Weekend

This was a really sweet family drama set in Sydney, and an area of Sydney that is not often showcased on screen! Not only were the locations recognisable, but so were the characters. It was nice to watch a drama that was not overplayed and the people and circumstances felt true to life. You could really see the connection with the three siblings and while they were frustrating at times, they were authentic. Really made me appreciate my own family and I especially wanted to give my mum a hug and apologise for being short with her on the phone in the past.

Definitely worth the watch. But prepare to feel something!

The three adult Palmer siblings are gathering at the family home for the weekend while their mother is away. Avery (Elly Hiraani Clapin) is the oldest and her marriage is falling apart. Lou (Mia Artemis) is the middle child and a hard-partying lesbian. Rio (Adam Golledge) is the youngest, a slacker, and still lives with mom. He announces that he has found their estranged father Mark (John Batchelor) and is meeting him. The girls are horrified. They tell him that he was an abusive drunk who abandoned them 15 years earlier.

There is some juicy family dysfunction on display in the second half of this movie. The first half does struggle to gather steam. It needs a better reason for the siblings to reunite. If the mother had just died, it would be the perfect opportunity for them to return home. It would also be the best reason for Rio to reach out to their dad. The meeting is a special uncomfortableness and it leads to some great family dysfunction. I like all these actors. They have real sibling chemistry. It's a good Australian indie.

This is why Aussie Indie films SUCK. This is a really boring film where NOT much actually happens and when things do happen, they are towards the end, so this being under 1 hour 17 minutes, it could have been a short film and should have been. There is NO story here, the first act (if there is one) struggles to identify a setup, a real reason to propel the characters into a journey. It's an uninteresting, non-compelling bunch of scenes that's trying so hard to be a story let a alone a movie, this is NOT a movie. The main character played by Mia Atemis is a weak character portrayed by an inexperienced actress, some moments are hit and miss and there are some strong moments too, ill give her that. Most of the actors barely pass in acting, the standouts definitely being newcomer Alex King and long time veteran John Batecholor. Ellie Claplan is also strong and delightful to watch. There are NOT enough stakes here to even warrant the characters (siblings) to pursue a relationship with an estranged abusive father. It's really pointless and also staggers with trying to showcase each siblings' problems but there is NOT enough time to try and tell 3 different sibling's stories. There's way too much music which tells me there is NOT enough story or much to say in this weak story-telling. Not shot well (looks like a soap-opera, lighting is weak good locations, but overall this film has no real drama, no real reason or purpose and never really gets there, its almost happy ending before it even wraps up the film. Terrible writing and dialouge and worse of all inexperienced Director. This just seems to be a push for female-driven directors within the LBGTI community (which i have no issue with) But just seems that the agenda is if you're from a minority you get to back a film that would never get made by anyone else because its not strong enough to be one. The ending will leave you wondering why this film was ever needed to be made and you will walk away never remembering this film. Sorry guys, I tried to like it but there's not much there. Don't believe any reviews that tell you that there is something powerful here.

Fun and very grounded film about an australian family, small scale but does characters quite well i thought!

Feels very 2022 in terms of being modern in how it looks at things like sexuality and monogamy so if you like those kinds of issues this is a good fit for you.. also nice urban view of sydney

i also liked the sibling relationships and thought there were lots of funny small moments between the sisters especially (although i think these siblings hugged a lot more than i do with mine haha maybe that's just me).

This movie made me want to watch more australian movies because it feels very true to the country i have grown up in.