THE WEEKEND AWAY
US, 2022, 90 minutes, Colour.
Leighton Meester, Christina Wolfe, Ziad Bakri, Luke Norris.
Directed by Kim Farrant.
This is an easy-going murder mystery, a screenplay written by Sarah Henderson from her novel, light reading for airports and flights. It is a Netflix entertainment.
Two friends plan a holiday weekend in Croatia, with some filming in Split, making the city very interesting and attractive, quite a tourist did.
Leighton Meister plays the more sedate friend, married with a child, coming across from London to be with her friend, Kate (Christina Wolfe), highly outgoing. After an enjoyable meal, Kate insists they go clubbing which results in drinking, drinks being drugged, attempted robbery, escort’s going back to the hotel, Kate’s disappearance until, ultimately, she is found floating in the sea.
At the beginning, Beth has befriended the taxi driver, Zain (Ziad Bakri), a refugee from Syria. She begins to rely on him to help her with the search for Kate and her frustrations with the police, especially the police chief who arrogantly dismisses her claims.
Gradually, there are quite a number of suspects, including the manager of the hotel where the guests stayed, who has an elaborate surveillance system and is in contact with the police. Beth is suspected of the murder, interrogated. And the stories told about Zain having criminal connections with the Albanians in the city. Beth has made many phone calls to her husband who turns up in Split. And she has to inform Kate’s former husband, a businessman in London, about her disappearance and then death.
With some tension, pressure on Beth, help from Zain, and a sympathetic female police investigator, there is a climax, a chase, confrontation with the police chief who, it turns out, has shady connections and a past record of attacks on women.
The solution to the mystery occurs 15 minutes before the end of the film – and impatient audiences need to stay on and watch the rest because there is a complete twist and a different explanation as to who killed Kate.
Direction is by Kim Farrant and, Australian director of Strangerland and Angel of Mine.
