the weekend getaway movie review

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A woman's body floats face down in dark waters as somber cello music swells. One quick title and dissolve later and the water, sans body, is now bright and inviting. The camera pans over a picturesque coastal Croatian town. Everything is sunshine and palm trees as bright-eyed new mom Beth ( Leighton Meester ) makes her way by taxi to a girls weekend away with best friend Kate ( Christina Wolfe ).  

In free fall after the dissolution of her marriage, the whole trip is on Kate's, including the lushest AirBnB, raw oysters, and copious amounts of alcohol. They’ve 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 drifted a bit since the birth of Beth’s daughter Aster. By the end of Beth and Kate’s weekend, one of them will be dead.

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 cloth as those great cheesy '90s thrillers like “ Double Jeopardy ” where the plot has more twists than the serpentine roads Beth’s taxi takes to get to her AirBnB. But that’s okay. The pleasure of a thriller like this is to get lost in its locales and caught up in the web it spins. 

Farrant and cinematographer Noah Greenberg capture the alluring sunny beauty of Split, Croatia with fluid camera movements. Pink sunsets contrast against ancient stone buildings. The filmmakers frame the actors like classic postcards or vacation photos, the cityscape always in the distance behind them. Even during the film’s darker twists, the tourist vibes remain as if the whole movie were told through a slide show recapping the most disastrous getaway ever.

Opposites in both temperament and style, introverted Beth has frazzled hair and no makeup, opting for sage green crochet dress for their big night out; extroverted Kate, on the other hand, dons bright red lips and teal sequins. Meester is excellent at mixing in new mom exhaustion with the excitement she clearly feels being reunited with Kate. Meanwhile Wolfe buzzes through her brief appearance, high on god knows what and ready to paint the town red.

Their “one night of excitement” to get Beth out of her rut starts at a smoky neon lit bar where they meet a couple of handsome men, and ends with Kate missing. Unfortunately, the opening shot deflates much of the tension here as we know Kate’s fate long before Beth does. What makes this part of the film work however is the chemistry between Beth and Zain (a soulful Ziad Bakri ), a cab driver and Syrian refugee who helps her retrace the night. Does this all make logical sense? No, not really. But Bakri imbues his character with such a rich interiority and personal code of ethics that you almost buy what the movie is selling. 

Films like this live and die on the commitment of their lead performance and whether the audience roots for her to get out of this mess. Meester has always had an incredibly likable screen presence and the movie wisely sticks to her point of view throughout, anchoring the audience's investment in her. In the more emotional sequences, Farrant does not shy away from a classic close-up, allowing Meester to showcase her expressive eyes. 

Beyond the enjoyable shock factor of the twists—I yelled out “What?!” more than once—the film explores the idea of trust. Beth trusts Kate, even when she gets her to do things outside her comfort zone. That’s the basis of their friendship. Beth trusts Zain. “The heart is your guide,” he tells her in Arabic when the police try to make her doubt this trust. Beth trusts her own instincts, even when the police, Kate’s estranged husband Jay ( Parth Thakerar ), and even her own husband Rob try to get her to doubt what she knows to be true about her best friend. Although some of the weight of what the film wants to say about gaslighting is undone by the ridiculous plotting, Meester and Bakri’s grounded performances keep the story rooted. 

“The Weekend Away” is the best kind of purposely preposterous potboiler. The scenery is gorgeous, the twists keep the adrenaline pumping, and the performances are memorable. Even though you might not remember everything that happens, you’ll have a good time while it lasts. 

On Netflix today. 

Marya E. Gates

Marya E. Gates is a freelance film and culture writer based in Los Angeles and Chicago. She studied Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, and also has an overpriced and underused MFA in Film Production. Other bylines include Moviefone, The Playlist, Crooked Marquee, Nerdist, and Vulture. 

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Film Credits

The Weekend Away (2022)

Leighton Meester as Beth

Christina Wolfe as Kate

Ziad Bakri as Zain

• Kim Farrant
• Sarah Alderson

Cinematographer

• Noah Greenberg
• Sophie Corra
• Daniel Wohl

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The Weekend Away review – Leighton Meester anchors taut but thin Netflix thriller

The Gossip Girl veteran stars as an American whose friend disappears on trip to Croatia, unraveling a host of secrets in swift if predictable fashion

A n American wakes up in a cozy hotel in Croatia, violently hungover and dazed from the night before. The room is strewn with clothes, the counter dotted with empty wine glasses. An unexpected blackout has rendered Beth’s (Leighton Meester) memory of the previous few hours into a few incoherent shards, ones she fears putting together. Relatable content for many women at some point in their lives, and thus a compelling starting point for The Weekend Away, a brisk and absorbing if increasingly thin thriller about a girls’ holiday weekend gone wrong.

The Weekend Away, from the Strangerland director Kim Farrant, opens with a woman’s body floating in calm water, so you can assume Beth’s holiday in Croatia with best friend Kate (Christina Wolfe) will end in at least one casualty. The road to that point is initially sleek and promising, with a taut first third that quickly illustrates the women’s strained thirtysomething friendship and sets up a decently plausible mystery. Beth is a new mother barely out from the haze of sleepless nights and post-partum depression. Kate, blonde and beguiling, is a social butterfly reeling from a recent divorce that’s sent her into a black hole of hedonistic narcissism.

After Beth admits over dinner that her marriage to Rob (Luke Norris) has cooled so much that they haven’t had sex in over a year, Kate drags her to a club, ignores her request for water, and finds two men to flirt with. The rest is a blacked-out blur, convincingly relayed in small flashbacks; Beth awakens from her bender to find Kate missing and delays her trip home to London to find her.

The script from British-American writer Sarah Alderson, who also wrote the 2020 novel of the same name, proceeds apace from there with a steady five-minute rhythm of plot twists at first intriguing, then wearying, then either ludicrous or obvious. Beth enlists a friendly cab driver from the night out, Syrian refugee Zain (Ziad Bakri) to help follow leads that the dismissive police – charismatic Pavic (Amar Bukvic) and slightly more sympathetic female partner Kovač (Iva Mihalić) – don’t take seriously. At 90 minutes, The Weekend Away is not much longer than some streaming TV episodes, and accomplishes much more plot in its swift runtime. Beth summarily unravels a host of secrets behind her friendship with Kate, her marriage to Rob, and side characters such as creepy hotelier Sebastian (Adrian Pezdirc), though those secrets aren’t ultimately that surprising.

More interesting is the film’s light jostling with some thornier, deeper topics: the inherent exploitation of tourism (Beth’s initial conversation with Zain, in which she tries to relate by speaking broken Arabic learned from her London job with a refugee organization), local annoyance with tourists’ recklessness, the struggle to keep up friendships as a new mother. But these intriguing moments are subsumed by the film’s relentless driving beat of plot twists, which ultimately demand that Beth distrust everyone, take increasingly desperate measures, and have a scenic chase through picturesque Split’s city center in the tourist uniform of cropped jeans and Keds.

For many millennials, the kind looking to kick back on the couch for a night in without committing to three hours of Dune and keen to relate to the protagonist, the main draw of The Weekend Away will be its perennially underappreciated star Meester, who played beloved mean girl Blair Waldorf on the original Gossip Girl. Dressed understatedly with dry hair in a messy ponytail, Meester convincingly looks the part of a woman who has not taken a night to herself in a long while, and she delivers a solid performance. Her Beth – foggy and confused, learning to trust her own instincts as her assumptions crumble – grounds a thinly written character who could’ve been merely a plot device in a shallow story. The final twist is fairly obvious from halfway through the movie, but in Meester’s hands it still registers some emotional shock.

That being said, in a time of too many bloated, meandering, dry TV episodes and films, I found The Weekend Away’s brevity and swift clip of twists refreshing. It’s a thriller by name but less edge-of-your-seat than lounging on the couch, absorbing beats of plot like the ocean tide. A little provocation with slight commitment – that’s not a bad night in by any means.

The Weekend Away is now available on Netflix

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‘The Weekend Away’ Review: A Croatian Vacay Turns Hazardous

Leighton Meester finds danger abroad in this diverting if excessively twist-laden Netflix thriller.

By Dennis Harvey

Dennis Harvey

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Current B-grade thrillers so frequently have too little plot — often not much more than a starting premise — that it’s almost refreshing to see something like “The Weekend Away,” which has many more narrative complications than it can pull off. Certainly not with sufficient credibility, suspense or atmosphere, and not in one hectic hour and a half. Nonetheless, this Netflix original plunging Leighton Meester into peril on a Croatian holiday is fast-moving enough to provide a decent night’s disposable home entertainment for viewers whose expectations aren’t geared any higher.

Director Kim Farrant ’s last two features (2015’s “Strangerland,” 2019’s “Angel of Mine”) both involved suspicions cast on unstable adults over missing children. Whereas in “Weekend’s” missing person scenario, our protagonist is pretty much the sole character who doesn’t end up looking guilty of something or other. London-based American Beth (Meester) arrives in Split for a long-planned getaway with old pal Kate (Christina Wolfe), who has arranged rather luxurious digs for them — gloating that the husband she’s just divorced will foot the bill. While Beth’s own marriage to Rob (Luke Norris) is apparently undergoing a “rough patch,” she is nonetheless dedicated to their baby and to domesticity, taking this break only at her free-spirited erstwhile college roomie’s insistence.

Though disinclined to party-hearty, she reluctantly acquiesces when Kate’s “one night of excitement … [to] bring you out of your rut” turns into clubbing with two random guys, then waking up the next morning with a brutal hangover and little memory of the prior evening. This is problematic, because Kate is now nowhere to be found. Despite her history of flaky, impulsive behavior, such absence is worrying enough that Beth soon alerts the local police (Amar Bukvic, Iva Mihalic). They are dismissive; considerably more helpful is a Syrian-refugee taxi driver (Ziad Bakri) Beth has already befriended. Their sleuthing around only raises worse fears that get realized when Kate’s corpse is found — unsurprisingly, since the film opened with a flash-forward shot of her body floating in the Adriatic.

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Our heroine’s distress is exacerbated further once she realizes the authorities regard her as a suspect in her friend’s murder. There’s no lack of other potential perps, either, ranging from the club-pickup gigolos (Marko Braic, Lujo Kuncevic) to the rental flat’s creepy landlord (Adrian Pezdirc). Even those investigating cops and Kate’s own husband start looking pretty shady, as fragmentary memories of the fateful evening return to her, and intel withheld by various parties is revealed.

Ultimately there are a few twists too many, pushing the story into a realm of excess contrivance. There’s not enough time or nuance to lend numerous narrative turnabouts plausibility. And despite the decent performances, we can’t quite buy into Beth’s primary relationships here: As played by Meester, she’s such a vanilla “all-American girl,” it doesn’t make sense she’d be besties with wild-child Kate, let alone have a long-term spouse concealing dark secrets. Presumably these dynamics played better in scenarist Sarah Alderson’s original novel (which is set in Lisbon rather than Split). But in the film’s brisk screen progress, the pileup of left-field plot developments soon becomes overkill.

To Farrant’s credit, that surplus melodrama somehow stops short of camp. The film is just nimble and poker-faced enough to skirt unintentional humor, even after we stop finding it remotely convincing. On the other hand, the director doesn’t demonstrate much feel for overall tension or physical action. Deprived the more complicated psychological dimensions of her prior thrillers to lean on, “Away” requires a more mysterious, threatening mood than she seems interested in summoning. Historic seaside Split looks like a scrubbed, sunny tourist’s delight here—not a place where one might fall into a pit of intrigue and possibly never get out alive.

For all its increasingly-expansive credibility gaps and other flaws, however, the movie does provide a slick, pacey diversion. Rather like the kind of airport-bookstore potboiler it’s duly based on, “The Weekend Away” holds attention sufficient to pass the time. There are no aspirations evident toward anything memorable, despite the vaguely Hitchcockian tenor. Taken as the audiovisual equivalent of a beach read, it’s fun — certainly a notch or two above the level of such other recent Netflix woman-in-peril pulp fictions as “The Intrusion” or “Brazen.”

Reviewed online, March 1, 2022. Running time: 89 MIN.

• Production: A Netflix release of a 42 production. Producers: Erica Steinberg, Charlie Morrison, Ben Pugh. Executive producers: Kari Hatfield, Sarah Alderson.
• Crew: Director: Kim Farrant. Screenplay: Sarah Alderson, based on her novel. Camera: Noah Greenberg. Editor: Sophie Corra. Music: Daniel Wohl.
• With: Leighton Meester, Christina Wolfe, Ziad Bakri, Luke Norris, Amar Bukvic, Iva Mihalic, Adrian Pezdirc, Marko Braic, Lujo Kuncevic, Parth Thakerar.

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The Weekend Away Reviews

It's plot will keep you invested even if you do guess most of the twists along the way. Just don't expect too much from the script, however well the actors manage to elevate it.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 25, 2023

Not a bad little number, this, well-directed to the genre template by Kim Farrant and with an excellent supporting performance by Luke Norris as Beth's husband Rob. His scene on the phone is a mini-masterclass in emotionally authentic acting.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 30, 2022

Based on a Sarah Alderson novel, this trashy little Netflix whodunnit starring Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester as the innocent American in the wrong place at the wrong time is, well, a film that’s almost deliberately unoriginal.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2022

Leighton Meester tries her best but she can't overcome the holes in the plot.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Apr 15, 2022

As Kim Farrant's direction favours sun-baked locations over suspense or pacing, the result is a picture-postcard potboiler that gets dafter and drearier at every turn.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 14, 2022

The type of movie that Lifetime Channel reruns were made for.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 12, 2022

even when the formula begins to show, you cant quite help but get sucked into it

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 9, 2022

A slight B-film thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Mar 22, 2022

Though Meester puts on a solid performance atop an intriguing plot, The Weekend Away doesn't supply enough thrills to make it an entertaining watch.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 15, 2022

It has too many twists to it, but it's not a bad throwaway thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 12, 2022

Author Sarah Alderson adapted her own novel, and the screenplay is made slick with clues, dead-ends and sinful temptations that don’t materialize to much.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Mar 10, 2022

A large glass of white wine on a Friday night.

Full Review | Mar 9, 2022

While it does not break the mold of a disappearance thriller in any way, The Weekend Away is an enjoyable 90-minute ride of tension and suspense set in beautiful Croatia.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 7, 2022

...a nifty little thriller that sets up its premise and then draws you in as each potential solution turns out to be another red herring.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 6, 2022

The Weekend Away is filled with twists and turns, but unfortunately they are all mostly predictable in this less than intense thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 4, 2022

Despite its narrative exaggerations, A Weekend Away is an enjoyable thriller thanks to the escalation of its tension and effective execution. Full Review in Spanish

Full Review | Mar 4, 2022

This is the kind of movie actresses make when they wish to prove theyre more than just a pretty face - or are desperate to be taken seriously. Meester wears no make-up, dresses frumpy, puts on a few pounds to play a post-partum mom, and goes method.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 4, 2022

Trash can be dumb, but it can't be annoying.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Mar 4, 2022

Fast-moving enough to provide a decent night’s disposable home entertainment for viewers whose expectations aren’t geared any higher.

The film manages to craft some solid suspense and keeps you glued with a quick pace and some unexpected characters in a truly alluring location.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 3, 2022

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – The Weekend Away (2022)

March 3, 2022 by Robert Kojder

The Weekend Away ,  2022.

Directed by Kim Farrant. Starring Leighton Meester, Christina Wolfe, Ziad Bakri, Luke Norris, Amar Bukvić, Iva Mihalić, Adrian Pezdirc, and Parth Thakerar.

A weekend getaway to Croatia goes awry when a woman is accused of killing her best friend. As she attempts to clear her name and uncover the truth, her efforts unearth a painful secret.

For roughly an hour of Kim Farrant’s The Weekend Away (and Sarah Alderman writing a script treatment based on her novel), there is an effort to keep the disappearance at the center of the story somewhat grounded in believability. It also feels as if the filmmakers are actively trying to avoid going down the route of stupidity that most trashy thrillers find themselves on. As a result, there is some measure of worth and entertainment value here (especially considering this is a Netflix drop that is all but guaranteed to be watched by anyone scrolling the What’s New section at midnight on a Saturday) in its simplistic storytelling and brisk running time. This year alone has been far worse thrillers released on streaming services. With that in mind, it’s easy to recommend The Weekend Away to anyone curious that might be looking to pass some time.

However, that doesn’t mean The Weekend Away is necessarily good. The story follows a new mother, Beth (Leighton Meester, turning in a decent performance aside from whenever the script demands her to play shocked). She takes a well-earned vacation to Croatia with her longtime best friend, Kate (Christina Wolfe). The relative closeness from London makes it an ideal relaxation choice should anything come up requiring Beth to return home to her daughter and partner Rob (Luke Norris). Kate is not just looking to unwind, though, as she takes Beth out for a night of partying and drinks that starts normal enough but quickly turns into Kate encouraging Beth to hook up with a stranger and cheated on Rob after expressing that the relationship, while fine, has also become sexually distant. Already, Kate is immensely unlikable and comes across like the worst friend ever.

Cue a brief argument and drunken blackout similar to The Hangover with Beth awakening to find a bloodstain on the floor inside their high-end air B&B with Kate missing. There are also several suspicious characters at play here, ranging from a taxi driver (Ziad Bakri) with much interest in driving around and assisting Beth in her investigation. And she needs that support because the local police appear supremely shady. Also in the mix is an overly creepy air B&B owner. And once Rob realizes that Kate is not faking the disappearance or attention (one of the few solid emotional scenes in the movie, as there is a sense that the character goes from regretting his accusations that it’s a cry for attention), he gets a babysitter and flies into Croatia.

One of the more intriguing aspects is that both the film and Beth are aware that she trusts too easily. On more than one occasion, a character openly questions why she doesn’t assume he is involved. It allows The Weekend Away to at least attempt to say something noteworthy about the line between trust and listening to one’s heart. Also, as details are revealed about the disappearance, there are a few on-the-nose bits regarding slut-shaming and the childish bitterness of a rejected man.

The issue is that, unfortunately, The Weekend Away does devolve into a series of goofy twists and contrived events that continuously undercut the messages the story is getting at. Every suspect is also played over the top, leaving little room for nuance, especially when characters start making drastic decisions that lack logic and purpose to such a degree it becomes apparent they are involved. Still, there is mild forward momentum and suspense, which can’t be said for the terribly executed final 20 minutes. What should have been woven into the third act becomes a lengthy epilogue that only exists to try pulling the rug out from underneath the viewer one more time. And I say try because it’s hard to imagine anyone watching the entire movie not suspecting this person has something to do with the disappearance.

If nothing else, The Weekend Away is a good excuse to turn off your brain for 90 minutes and enjoy a familiar vacation mystery with serious made-for-TV vibes. For better or worse, it is the definition of a Netflix movie.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★  / Movie: ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check  here  for new reviews, follow my  Twitter  or  Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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With Netflix's   The Weekend Away , Leighton Meester finds herself in a situation familiar to many cinematic heroes. A psychological thriller in the vein of  Gone Girl or  The Girl on the Train,  The Weekend Away  holds all the elements of a classic missing-persons mystery. Unfortunately, the film, which is based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Alderson (also the writer of the script here), lacks the same thrills and suspense that have pushed so many others in this genre to great heights. Director Kim Farrant finds moments of cleverness, but also takes too much time to up the stakes. Though Meester puts on a solid performance atop an intriguing plot, The Weekend Away doesn't supply enough thrills to make it an entertaining watch.

New mother Beth (Meester) has been pulled away from her daughter and unhappy marriage in London to indulge in a fun-filled weekend in Croatia with her best friend Kate (Christina Wolfe). Her first night there, Beth is hoping for a nice dinner and to turn in early, but Kate swiftly pulls her into a wild night out... which proves to be a fatal decision. Beth wakes the next morning to find Kate missing, and despite her best efforts, no one seems to believe that something awful happened. Armed with only a taxi driver named Zain (Ziad Bakri) as an ally, Beth sets out to uncover just what happened to her friend.

Related:  Netflix: Every Movie & TV Show Releasing In March 2022

The Weekend Away  doesn't waste much time in getting to Kate's disappearance; by the 15-minute mark, she's gone and Beth is worried. One would then expect Farrant to dive right into this confounding mystery, but  The Weekend Away instead takes a slower approach. The pacing is uneven, with a more restrained start that later gives way to rapid-fire twists. Beth gradually pieces together some details of the night before — which she can't recall, much to her frustration — but the first steps forward in her investigation only come about because she has Zain to help her. For the first portion of  The Weekend Away , Beth is more of a passive bystander. It's only later on in the action that she brings out some clever moves of her own, including one that's a sly callback to an early moment. Beth could be a compelling character, a woman desperate to find her friend in an inhospitable environment. Overall, though, Alderson's script doesn't give Meester much else to do besides cry and fret.

Of course, anyone who has seen Meester's previous work will know she has the range for a number of characters.  The Weekend Away 's Beth is a far cry from the performance Meester is best known for — Blair Waldorf on  Gossip Girl — and yet the actress has no problem sinking into her meeker persona. Because of how quickly Kate's disappearance comes about, it's hard to get a proper reading on her friendship with Beth. However, thanks to Meester, that connection is felt through Beth's desperation to find Kate. Meester lets the audience feel Beth's pain, particularly when a twist nearly midway through takes  The Weekend Away in a new direction. The rest of the cast is solid, with Bakri perhaps making the biggest impression as the surprisingly helpful Zain.

With a movie like  The Weekend Away , bringing something new to the format is incredibly difficult. There have already been countless other movies with the same sort of premise, so all it really takes is a compelling mystery, a good amount of suspense, and a devastating twist to win over audiences. Unfortunately,  The Weekend Away doesn't have nearly enough of the second part, thus hindering everything else. The most suspenseful sequence finds Beth uncovering something about her creepy landlord (Adrian Pezdiric), but the rest of the mystery lacks that same propulsion. This connects back to the shaky pacing, which results in the biggest twist coming with just 15 minutes left in the film. To be fair, said ending is pretty intriguing and fills in gaps viewers might not have realized were there.

Still,  The Weekend Away 's solid ending isn't quite enough to make up for the underwhelming journey. There are far more compelling psychological thrillers out there these days, and this one comes across as a merely average effort. Meester is a reason to watch, so fans of her work might find something here. All told, though,  The Weekend Away is a missing-persons adventure that isn't as gripping as it could've been.

More: Watch The Weekend Away Trailer

The Weekend Away   is now streaming on Netflix. It is 91 minutes long and rated TV-14 for language, violence, and suggestive dialogue.

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The weekend away, our rating:.

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Sure, We Loved ‘Gone Girl,’ But Netflix’s ‘The Weekend Away’ Feels Like Another Stale Copy

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

Did you like The Girl on the Train ? Love Gone Girl ? We sure did. As did almost anyone who read those hugely successful novels or watched the star-studded film adaptations that followed. For years, we've seen new books and movies try to replicate the success of those massive thrillers. But, unfortunately, as time passed and the structure of these mysteries was repeated time and time again, the recipe that once felt fresh now feels completely stale.

Thus, we have The Weekend Away , the newest release from Netflix that follows on the heels of The Girl on the Train , A Simple Favor , The Woman in the Window and so many more. If you thought movies of this ilk had been squeezed for everything they had, well—you'd be right. However, it seems the creators of The Weekend Away decided to pinch a few more drops from the mashed-up peel.

Netflix's choice to release this movie is even more intriguing, given that only a couple months back, the streaming juggernaut dropped a Kristen Bell-led TV series jokingly titled The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window , which spoofed movies of this fabric . (Even as a joke though, critics were simply tired of it .)

Now, Netflix has recruited  Gossip Girl 's Leighton Meester for another murder mystery with familiar ingredients: a spotty night thanks to drinking, a woman gone missing and the protagonist wrongly accused, shady acquaintances and even shadier husbands. As all this goes down, the actress formerly known as Blair Waldorf puts on a heck of a performance, but she can't save this film from being predictable and underwhelming. Keep reading for our full review.

The Weekend Away sees Meester as Beth, a London-based new mother who is dealing with complacency in her marriage, self-consciousness about her appearance and a hesitancy to party too hard or spend money like she did when she was younger. Beth's problems are all too relatable, and when she embarks on a weekend getaway to Croatia with her best friend, Kate (Christina Wolfe), the film perfectly sets these characters up for trouble by placing them in a country that is unfamiliar to them, where the native language is one they don't speak.

However, while the Mediterranean backdrop is a breath of fresh air compared to the suburban claustrophobia of similar movies of this genre, that is where the differences stop.

From this point on, The Weekend Away plays out how you'd expect. When Kate goes missing, Beth immediately begins to investigate, thanks to a drunken night she doesn't remember and an encounter with two suspicious men they met at a bar. And when Beth turns to the Croatian police, she is met by a male officer who dismisses her concern.

One of the most frustrating aspects of The Weekend Away is how it only touches on issues that need to be explored more deeply. When Beth is convinced that she was drugged by the men at the bar, the police doubt her story (even though it turns out to be true). When the male police officer ignores protocol and bribes Beth's landlord to collect information, his actions are never questioned until the very end (even though he has a criminal record himself). And racism is at play when a Syrian refugee named Zain (Ziad Bakri) is immediately marked as dangerous and linked to a human trafficking group, even though he is the only one who is willing to help Beth and hear her story (and he is proven to be innocent all along).

These issues are brushed by and they're merely used as crutches to advance a story we've seen a thousand times, even though they could provide a much more nuanced plot.

As previously stated, Meester shines in this role, and she perfectly sells the part of a stressed, confused young mother, even for those who only know her for playing a spoiled, manipulative teenager. The rest of the cast supports her well, with solid performances from Wolfe (even though she has very limited screen time), Bakri and her husband Rob, played by Poldark 's Luke Norris.

But in addition to repeating oft-told tropes, The Weekend Away really does feel like a weekend vacation in that it goes by more quickly than you want it to. Each surprising twist seems to fall at the drop of a hat and there's little room for suspense. If the movie was perhaps a bit longer or the pacing was handled differently, there might've been room to explore the challenging topics more deeply and leave the viewer more on-edge. It makes sense this movie is based on a book (its author, Sarah Alderson, also wrote the screenplay) because the book probably offers more space for character development and tension.

Instead, all the (to be honest, quite expected) twists aren't given time to be shocking. We are shown little of Beth and Kate's friendship and Beth and Rob's marriage, so it feels hard to care or understand the history behind these relationships. However, Alderson does manage to fit in a double twist, which sadly, still feels predictable after the recent release of thrillers like Behind Her Eyes and The Invisible Man , both of which closed with two successive twists.

Purewow Review: 2.5 Stars

Disappointingly, The Weekend Away is a very middle-of-the-road thriller that doesn't use its arresting lead to its advantage. Instead of acting as a cinematic getaway, the movie feels like a winding rehash of every psychological thriller of the past ten years. Yes, we did love Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train . But after years of copycats, we'd love something new even more.

For a full breakdown of PureWow's entertainment rating system, click here .

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I Can’t Stand Dating Shows, But I’m Obsessed with ‘Single’s Inferno’ on Netflix

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The Weekend Away review – a thriller with no thrills

This review of the Netflix film The Weekend Away does not contain spoilers. 

A good thriller always knows how to play with the audience’s anticipations. Leighton Meester-starring new Netflix film The Weekend Away misses that drastically. As a result, it becomes a prime example of flat storytelling with nothing to offer emotionally or artistically.

Based on the book by Sarah Alderson (who also wrote the screenplay for the film) and directed by Kim Farrant, the plot is not a unique one, especially for the thriller genre. A middle-aged married girl, Beth (Leighton Meester), comes to Croatia to spend a weekend with her college days best friend, Kate (Christina Wolfe). Though the two are total opposites in their characteristics, they share a strong bond. Kate is an extrovert who leads a wild, careless and risky lifestyle. At the same time, Beth is a mother of a child, calculated, and has a sense of responsibility towards her life. The two have a great time with each other after meeting in the film’s first act. But things get an unexpected turn.

This director establishes this classic thriller outline quite well in the first act. Despite showing affection, there is a concealed coldness and distance between the two characters. That leads to tension and anticipation for a more excellent mystery to brew in the opening scenes. But as the story progresses, this tension dies out, replacing it with flatness in the narrative. The twists and turns are too pretentious and unfulfilling that you don’t even care for them from a certain point in time. Also, the logical loopholes the movie harbors are inconceivable. For example, the police convict a person based on street CCTV footage in a scene. It is said that the person’s face is identified from that footage. But in a later scene, we understand that the person in the footage is someone else. It feels pretty dumb for me to digest why the police come to a clear-cut conclusion by seeing the footage at first if there is a doubt. Like these, there are other scenes in the movie which feel dumb in the same way.

The most unfortunate aspect of all in the movie is the actors’ performances. A good actor’s acting stands upon his ability to listen and react to the situation. Leighton Meester hurriedly throws her dialogue at the screen. She is not responding to the situations surrounding her. Thus there is no connection to her character. Christina Wolfe has a limited screen time but overcomes the symptoms of Leighton. But her character has no depth and also fails to make a mark.

I see the promise in Palestinian actor Ziad Bakri. He plays the role of Zain, a taxi driver, who helps Beth unravel the mystery of Kate’s disappearance. Ziad successfully portrays the various shades of the character, from a war-torn heartbroken man to a rugged protector of Kate in her helpless situation. I think Ziad is the only sustaining element in the entire film.

Every week, we encounter a thriller show or film on the streaming platforms. So, nowadays, the content has to provide something unique to get the audience’s attention. The Weekend Away does not only miss the uniqueness, but its cliches are also drably executed. As a result, it becomes a film that fails to connect people and becomes a thriller with no thrills.

What did you think of the Netflix film The Weekend Away? Comment below.

You can watch this film with a subscription to Netflix.

Article by Jonathon Wilson

Jonathon is one of the co-founders of Ready Steady Cut and has been an instrumental part of the team since its inception in 2017. Jonathon has remained involved in all aspects of the site’s operation, mainly dedicated to its content output, remaining one of its primary Entertainment writers while also functioning as our dedicated Commissioning Editor, publishing over 6,500 articles.

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THE WEEKEND AWAY Parents Guide + Movie Review

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Netflix’s The Weekend Away , is based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Alderson. This highly-anticipated thriller stars Gossip Girl’s (Blair Waldorf), Leighton Meester, making it appealing to the teen crowd. Is The Weekend Away kid-friendly?  I’m breaking down all of the thematic elements, including its TV-14 rating, in my  The Weekend Away  Parents Guide and Movie Review. Here’s what parents need to know to help YOU decide if it’s appropriate for kids. As always, no spoilers!

The Weekend Away Parents Guide + Movie Review

Beth (Leighton Meester), and Kate (Christina Wolf), couldn’t be more opposite. But, that seems to be why they’re such great friends. They balance each other out. A weekend vacation is long overdue for these best friends. Beth is a new mom and Kate just went through a divorce. A quick escape from reality seems to be exactly what they both desperately need.

But what was supposed to be an exciting evening out, turns deadly. Beth wakes up with no recollection of what happened the night before, and Kate is missing. Before long, Beth finds herself at a morgue identifying Kate’s body, and is now a prime suspect in her friends murder.

Trapped in a foreign country and desperate to prove her innocence, Beth seeks out to uncover what truly happened to Kate.

IS THE WEEKEND AWAY KID-FRIENDLY? HERE’S YOUR PARENTS GUIDE:

Fans of Gossip Girl are going to want to see Leighton Meester’s character in The Weekend Away . But what ages is it best suited for? Netflix’s The Weekend Away has an MPAA rating of TV-14 for violence, language, and suggestive dialogue. It has a runtime of 1 hour 29 minutes. Here’s what parents need to know before watching The Weekend Away with their children.

I was honesty expecting more language than was present in this film. There aren’t any F bombs. I did hear the word “B!tch” used multiple times, but overall I found the language not terrible.

There is quite a bit of violence in The Weekend Away . Ultimately the movie is about a murder, so this is to be expected. You will see guns, knives, chase scenes, and dead bodies. One character falls to their death. It is no secret that Kate drowns. Her murder is shown.

Mature Content

This is where The Weekend Away earns its TV-14 rating. Drugs play a big role in this film. You will see characters participate in illegal drugs and others will be drugged unbeknownst to them. There is a lot of heavy drinking right from the start, and a lot of talk about “getting drunk.” The way alcohol is portrayed is glorified, however, you are also shown the dangers of excessive drinking and drugs.

Some characters engage on sex, but no nudity is shown.

Age Recommendation

The Weekend Away might appeal to teens, but it was not made for them. I would recommend this Netflix film for mature ages 16 and up and encourage you to watch with them.

Overall Thoughts

Netflix’s The Weekend Away is your classic whodunit thriller. Its nonstop action will keep viewers engaged and continuously guessing along the way. The many twists and turns will have you questioning everything. The Weekend Away is fast-paced and a great flick to sit down and escape your own reality. Sure it might be a bit anxiety inducing and get your heart pounding, but its a decent watch. Stream The Weekend Away exclusively on Netflix!

The Weekend Away Synopsis

A weekend getaway to Croatia goes awry when a woman (Leighton Meester) is accused of killing her best friend (Christina Wolfe) and her efforts to get to the truth uncover a painful secret.

I HOPE YOU FOUND THIS THE WEEKEND AWAY PARENTS GUIDE AND MOVIE REVIEW HELPFUL FOR YOUR FAMILY. WILL YOU BE WATCHING?!

Looking for more Netflix movies? Don’t miss  these posts !

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Meet the Cast of 'The Deadly Getaway'

BET+'s original movie, "The Deadly Getaway," premieres this weekend. "The Deadly Getaway" begins with a chaotic home invasion gone wrong, resulting in a man's death. The story then shifts to Hope and Jacob, a couple seeking to escape their monotonous routine with a spontaneous trip to Wolf Creek—where Jacob plans a surprise proposal. Upon arrival, their expectation of a secluded retreat is shattered when Hope's ex, Derrick, shows up with his new girlfriend, Jada. Tensions quickly mount. The unsettling coincidence of Derrick's presence at Wolf Creek raises questions. Why is he there the same weekend as Hope? And why is he ominously toying with guns?

Let's take a look at the cast. 

YANDY SMITH-HARRIS as “Hope Robinson”

Hope is a real estate agent who prefers city life to the outdoors. Her attachment to her phone strains her relationship with her boyfriend, Jacob. To mark their anniversary and possibly rekindle their romance after past infidelities, she reluctantly agrees to a weekend trip with Jacob that takes a dangerous turn.

Yandy Smith-Harris is best known for appearing in the "Love and Hip Hop" franchise.

JASON WEAVER as “Jacob Haughton”

Hope's scheming ex-boyfriend, Derrick

Jacob is an IT professional who is very attentive to Hope's well-being. To shake up their routine, he surprises her with a trip to Wolf Creek, where their lives are endangered by Hope’s ex-boyfriend Derrick.

Jason Weaver has been active for over twenty years as a singer and actor. He is best known for his role as Michael in "The Jacksons: An American Dream" and his singing role as young Simba in "The Lion King."

JEFF LOGAN as “Derrick Thompson”

Hope's scheming ex-boyfriend, Derrick is currently evading the authorities due to his role in a failed heist. Despite the passage of time, Derrick remains fixated on Hope, convinced that she belongs to him and him alone.

Jeff Logan is an actor, model, and fitness influencer. He appeared in Cardi B's "Press" video and as Eric in Allblk's "Double Cross."

PRINCESS LOVE NORWOOD as “Jada Hawkins”

Jada is Derrick’s exotic dancer girlfriend. Once she finds out that Hope is Derrick’s ex-girlfriend, the tension rises between the two ladies.

Princess is best known for appearing in the "Love and Hip Hop" franchise and executive-produced "The Conversation" for the Zeus Network.

THE DEADLY GETAWAY, directed by Charles Jones, will premiere on BET+ on May 9. 

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‘Who by Fire' Review: A Canadian Cabin-in-the-Woods Getaway Goes Strangely and Rivetingly Awry

As a general movie rule, when a group of happy weekenders head to a woodland cottage for a bit of rest and relaxation, the great outdoors has some grisly surprises in store for them. In "Who By Fire," however, the horrors all come from inside the house - or more specifically from the people themselves, many of whose worst impulses and insecurities are unleashed by their tranquil surroundings. Dramatizing a curious case of cabin fever with keen human observation and patient wrangling of intangible dread, the third narrative feature from Quebecois director Philippe Lesage underlines his ability to carve a semblance of a horror movie from everyday domestic drama - confirming him as a filmmaker of considerable grace and daring.

It's been six years since Lesage's last film, "Genesis" - a long wait for his admirers, a select club still largely confined to the festival circuit, notwithstanding the polish and rigor of the director's work. Despite his gifts, international distributors have yet to embrace Lesage in a big way, while even festival programmers have been circumspect: At this year's Berlinale, "Who By Fire" premiered in the festival's lower-profile, youth-oriented Generation 14plus strand, an odd fit for an imposing art film not especially geared toward young audiences, though it did deservedly win the top jury prize there. That might encourage more programmers and buyers to take a chance on Lesage's latest, if they can get past its hefty but justified 160-minute runtime.

Where "Genesis" served as an indirect sequel to Lesage's haunting 2015 breakout "The Demons," "Who By Fire" cut ties with that specific saga of childhood anxiety and desire, though not with many of its themes and shifting moods. Nor with its Generation X milieu, as Lesage once more sets his story at some cellphone-free point in what appears to be the early 1990s: An opening closeup of two teenagers' hands, unoccupied by devices as one clutches a diary and the other restlessly smoothes his corduroys, stresses the point. In the back of a car, Jeff (Noah Parker) sits awkwardly between his best friend Max (Antoine Marchand-Gagnon) and Max's precocious older sister Aliocha (Aurelia Arandi-Longpré), on whom Jeff nurses an ill-concealed crush. Accompanied by Max and Aliocha's father, nebbishy screenwriter Albert (Paul Ahmrani), the three are headed to the remote, rustic home of Albert's old pal and collaborator Blake (Arieh Worthalter), a once-celebrated filmmaker who has recently moved into documentaries, having left the mainstream along with city life.

For aspiring filmmaker Jeff, whose friendship with Max isn't terribly demonstrative, it's a trip nervously bristling with opportunity: to make his move on Aliocha, for one thing, and to make an impression on Blake. But Aliocha would rather hang with the adults - who also include veteran actor Hélène (Irène Jacob) and her partner Eddy (Laurent Lucas) - while the affectedly macho Blake isn't impressed by anyone so much as himself. His reunion with Albert, now working largely in kids' TV, seems largely an excuse to haughtily compare their achievements; Albert retaliates by listing the failings of Blake's personal life, an estranged son among them.

The discord between the men escalates in ways both pettily prankish and more profoundly wounding, all while a more quiet rift between Jeff and Max widens. Lesage demonstrates an acute understanding of straight male friendship in all its bluffly disguised intimacy, and his film tensely hangs on the subtle shift from jocular passive aggression into outright hostility. First among equals in a perfectly pitched and balanced ensemble - marked once more by Lesage's deft facility with young performers - Worthalter's performance is at once mesmerizing and repulsive in its cocksure alpha energy. You can practically see Blake's hot reserves of inner anger straining against his cool posing.

But there's much happening here besides, from Aliocha's own reckless, sometimes ill-advised gestures of sexual independence to the fate of an ailing dog, placing Blake's loneliness and self-imposed social isolation in relief. In three separate scenes of dinner-table conversation, played out in precisely poised long takes, the film's lines of conflict come queasily together. As the knives come out, DP Balthazar Lab gazes across variously flushed or nonplussed faces, lit by candlelight that becomes progressively less cozy with each passing minute. Even when they contrive to release the tension, things go too far: In one remarkable set piece, an actual needle-drop of The B-52s' infectiously silly novelty record "Rock Lobster" cues a group dance-along that turns practically feral in its thrashing physicality.

When the cabin can no longer contain this clash of egos and hormones, the group must quite literally take it outside - cuing a third act of predatory mind games, elemental danger and unexpected loss in the wild that reveals new reaches to Lesage's already expansively fraught script. Lab's camera drinks in the saturated autumnal coppers and enveloping hunter greens of the forest, but the views here aren't emptily panoramic: Any jeweled image of nature comes with a tacit threat of decay or death. Winter is coming, and so is adulthood, and so is old age. By the end of this beautiful, unusual coming-of-age story, the line between adults and children hardly seems to exist, as all its principals regard each other with equal uncertainty, wondering what might become of them.

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'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' reigns at the box office with $56.5 million opening

Los Angeles — “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” reigned over the weekend box office with a $56.5 million North American opening, according to studio estimates Sunday, giving a needed surge to an uncertain season in theaters.

The film from 20th Century Studios and Disney that built on the rebooted “Apes” trilogy of the 2010s had the third highest opening of the year, after the $81.5 million debut of “Dune: Part Two” in early March and the $58.3 million domestic opening of “Kung Fu Panda 4” a week later.

The strong performance for “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” — it played even better internationally with a global total of $129 million — comes a week after a tepid start for Ryan Gosling's “The Fall Guy” signaled that the summer of 2024 is likely to see a major drop-off after the “Barbenheimer” magic of 2023.

“Planet of the Apes” easily made more than the rest of the top 10 combined.

Review: Old franchise learns new tricks in 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'

“The Fall Guy” fell to No. 2 with a $13.7 million weekend and a two-week total of $49.7 million for Universal Pictures.

Review: Ryan Gosling shines in 'The Fall Guy'

Zendaya's “Challengers” was third with $4.7 million and has earned $38 million in three weeks for Amazon MGM studios.

The opening for “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” helmed by “Maze Runner” director Wes Ball, was the second best in the series, after the $72 million opening weekend of 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

It's the 10th movie in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise that began in 1968 with the Charlton Heston original with a twist ending.

“This franchise has never been allowed to lose its momentum,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “There are very few franchises that have this kind of longevity.”

And it really is the property itself. The new film shares no central actors or characters with its predecessors.

“There’s just this love for the way it melds sci-fi with social commentary and straight-up popcorn entertainment,” Dergarabedian said.

“Kingdom” came with strong reviews and positive buzz (80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and a "B" CinemaScore). It was especially praised for its visual effects and the way its CGI has caught up with its primates-on-horseback aesthetic even since the last film, 2017's “War for the Planet of the Apes.”

The shot in the arm is welcome for the movie business, but there is little certainty in the forthcoming summer.

The year so far, lacking an early Marvel movie like 2023's “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” is running 21% last year's mid-May total.

While there are potential blockbusters that feel like safe bets including “Despicable Me 4” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” in July, others like “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” later this month and “Twisters” later in the summer feel like they could break either way.

Pixar once brought almost guaranteed hits, but June's “Inside Out 2” may not thrive like the 2015 original.

“There used to be sure bets we cannot necessarily bank on anymore,” Dergarabedian said. ”It is going to be a bit of a hit-or-miss slate.”

Weekend box office

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” $56.5 million.

2. "The Fall Guy,” $13.7 million.

3. “Challengers,” $4.7 million.

4. “Tarot,” $3.45 million.

5. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” $2.5 million.

6. “Unsung Hero,” $ 2.25 million.

7. “Kung Fu Panda 4,” $2 million.

8. “Civil War,” $1.8 million.

9. “Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace,” $1.5 million.

10. “Abigail,” $1.1 million.

• Action/Adventure
• Children's/Family
• Documentary/Reality
• Amazon Prime Video

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘After The Flood’ On BritBox, Where A Cop Goes On Her Own To Investigate A Murder In A Yorkshire Town Devastated By Flooding

Where to stream:.

• After the Flood

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Sometimes shows just take on too much plot. Too many threads are unraveled at once, and are not tied back together completely. A new British mystery series tries to combine a climate change disaster, a commentary on the clash between motherhood and a career in a male-oriented environment, and a good old-fashioned murder mystery, among other threads.

AFTER THE FLOOD : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Scenes of a massive rainstorm and flooding, with radio reports about the flooding playing in the background.

The Gist: Days of unprecedented rain have caused massive flooding in the Yorkshire town where PC Joanna Marshall (Sophie Rundle) is a patrol cop. She goes on a call with her partner, Deepa Das (Tripti Tripuraneni) where a woman is trying to get her infant out her car, which is stuck in rapidly-rising waters. As she gets out the car seat, it floats away; Joanna goes after it, then she sees a mystery man jump in the water. He manages to get the infant in Joanna’s arms before he’s swept away.

This is when we find out that Joanna is pregnant, and when word gets back to her husband, Pat Holman (Matt Stokoe), a detective in the same department, he calls her, concerned that she’s putting herself and their baby at risk.

The next day, after the rain stops, much of the town is under three feet of water. An older couple who stayed in their house, thinking they had flood guards in place, end up dying from CO poisoning when water comes up from the basement and floods their generator. Joanna’s mother Molly (Lorraine Ashbourne) serves food to people at the school where she works, which is serving as a shelter, and she bemoans how poorly the council reacted to this emergency.

Joanna is called to the garage of a building where a body is found in an elevator. There’s no ID on the body, but it’s assumed that he just got caught in there when the flood waters rose and then drowned. But the autopsy finds that he was killed by a blow to the head and likely placed in the elevator. Joanna, who is starting her detective training, becomes fascinated by the case, though Matt warns her to not question the detectives, including him, working the case. But she decides to take some matters in her own hands, especially when she has to take a few days off after passing out (she makes sure to leave an OOO that she’s not on maternity leave, much as Matt would like her to be) to investigate on her own.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Written by Mick Ford ( Stay Close ), After The Flood feels like a standard British police drama merged with an climate-change-disaster miniseries like Five Days At Memorial . Our Take: After The Flood is a show that’s trying to do too much. Is it a murder mystery? Is it a commentary on climate change? Is it about how sexism still reigns in law enforcement? Is it about a cop who will skirt the rules to solve a crime? It feels like it’s about all of these things, but not particularly focused on anything in particular.

Having all of this jumbled into one series might be OK if we felt that these stories would get connected somehow. There are threads here that are easily intertwined, like Joanna’s ethical breaches tied to her frustration about how her own husband seems to want her to be a stay-at-home mom. She fudged how long she was pregnant in order to get into the detective training program, which is an interesting insight into how she regards her career versus how Matt does. Matt’s sister’s awful family coming to stay after being flooded out seems to be another way she gets disregarded.

That would be an interesting plot for a cop drama, wouldn’t it? But then we get larded down with the flood story, and Joanna’s mother Molly’s run for the town council because of her concerns. And the central murder mystery seemingly has little to do with the actual flood, except for the fact that he was found after the water receded.

While there may be a chance that these stories will come together during the season’s six episodes, there certainly isn’t any evidence that it will after the first. It makes for a muddled show that even overwhelms the magnetic performance from Rundle as Joanna.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Joanna finds a genealogy match for the victim’s DNA on the sly, and when the man’s sister calls, Joanna finds out some surprising news. Then she has to hide the call from Matt.

Sleeper Star: The side story of Molly Marshall, played by Lorraine Ashbourne, running for council might be interesting, or it might be a distraction.

Most Pilot-y Line: Joanna asks one of the detectives about the toxicology report on the body of the “lift man”, the day after he was found. Can someone explain why on TV toxicology reports are immediate when in real life they take weeks or months?

Our Call: SKIP IT. While there are some good performances in After The Flood , there are too many plot threads going on at once to give viewers a chance to concentrate on any particular part of the story.

Joel Keller ( @joelkeller ) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com , VanityFair.com , Fast Company and elsewhere.

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A recent post on the Music Network of Maine Facebook page by singer-songwriter Anni Clark about an upcoming show.

Maine music fan and guitarist John Perry started the Music Network of Maine Facebook page about a decade ago. It’s described as a place for videos, photos and events involving Maine musicians and shows in the state.

On any given day, you can see anywhere from a handful to dozens of posts about upcoming performances by musicians and bands happening at venues all over the state.

Singer-songwriter Anni Clark is an active contributor, and her most recent post shared info about a May 9 show in Westbrook. Another recent post had details about a Fleetwood Mac tribute show scheduled for May 18 in Bath.

Account: Music Network of Maine

Platform: Facebook

Followers: 12,700

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Solar Storm Intensifies, Filling Skies With Northern Lights

Officials warned of potential blackouts or interference with navigation and communication systems this weekend, as well as auroras as far south as Southern California or Texas.

By Katrina Miller and Judson Jones

Katrina Miller reports on space and astronomy and Judson Jones is a meteorologist.

A dramatic blast from the sun set off the highest-level geomagnetic storm in Earth’s atmosphere on Friday that is expected to make the northern lights visible as far south as Florida and Southern California and could interfere with power grids, communications and navigations system.

It is the strongest such storm to reach Earth since Halloween of 2003. That one was strong enough to create power outages in Sweden and damage transformers in South Africa.

The effects could continue through the weekend as a steady stream of emissions from the sun continues to bombard the planet’s magnetic field.

The solar activity is so powerful that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors space weather, issued an unusual storm watch for the first time in 19 years, which was then upgraded to a warning. The agency began observing outbursts on the sun’s surface on Wednesday, with at least five heading in the direction of Earth.

“What we’re expecting over the next couple of days should be more significant than what we’ve seen certainly so far,” Mike Bettwy, the operations chief at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, said at a news conference on Friday morning.

For people in many places, the most visible part of the storm will be the northern lights, known also as auroras. But authorities and companies will also be on the lookout for the event’s effects on infrastructure, like global positioning systems, radio communications and even electrical power.

While the northern lights are most often seen in higher latitudes closer to the North Pole, people in many more parts of the world are already getting a show this weekend that could last through the early part of next week.

As Friday turned to Saturday in Europe, people across the continent described skies hued in a mottling of colors.

Alfredo Carpineti , an astrophysicist, journalist and author in North London, saw them with his husband from the rooftop of their apartment building.

“It is incredible to be able to see the aurora directly from one’s own backyard,” he said. “I was hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of green on the horizon, but it was all across the sky in both green and purple.”

Here’s what you need to know about this weekend’s solar event.

How will the storm affect people on Earth?

A geomagnetic storm watch or warning indicates that space weather may affect critical infrastructure on or orbiting near Earth. It may introduce additional current into systems, which could damage pipelines, railroad tracks and power lines.

According to Joe Llama, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory, communications that rely on high frequency radio waves, such as ham radio and commercial aviation , are most likely to suffer. That means it is unlikely that your cellphone or car radio, which depend on much higher frequency radio waves, will conk out.

Still, it is possible for blackouts to occur. As with any power outage, you can prepare by keeping your devices charged and having access to backup batteries, generators and radio.

The most notable solar storm recorded in history occurred in 1859. Known as the Carrington Event, it lasted for nearly a week, creating aurora that stretched down to Hawaii and Central America and impacting hundreds of thousands of miles of telegraph lines.

But that was technology of the 19th century, used before scientists fully understood how solar activity disrupted Earth’s atmosphere and communication systems.

“That was an extreme level event,” said Shawn Dahl, a forecaster at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “We are not anticipating that.”

Unlike tornado watches and warnings, the target audience for NOAA’s announcements is not the public.

“For most people here on planet Earth, they won’t have to do anything,” said Rob Steenburgh, a space scientist at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

The goal of the announcements is to give agencies and companies that operate this infrastructure time to put protection measures in place to mitigate any effects.

“If everything is working like it should, the grid will be stable and they’ll be able to go about their daily lives,” Mr. Steenburgh said.

Will I be able to see the northern lights?

It is possible that the northern lights may grace the skies this week over places that don’t usually see them. The best visibility is outside the bright lights of cities.

Clouds or stormy weather could pose a problem in some places. But if the skies are clear, even well south of where the aurora is forecast to take place, snap a picture or record a video with your cellphone. The sensor on the camera is more sensitive to the wavelengths produced by the aurora and may produce an image you can’t see with the naked eye.

Another opportunity could be viewing sunspots during the daytime, if your skies are clear. As always, do not look directly at the sun without protection. But if you still have your eclipse glasses lying around from the April 8 event, you may try to use them to try to spot the cluster of sunspots causing the activity.

How strong is the current geomagnetic storm?

Giant explosions on the surface of the sun, known as coronal mass ejections, send streams of energetic particles into space. But the sun is large, and such outbursts may not cross our planet as it travels around the star. But when these particles create a disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field, it is known as a geomagnetic storm.

NOAA classifies these storms on a “G” scale of 1 to 5, with G1 being minor and G5 being extreme. The most extreme storms can cause widespread blackouts and damage to infrastructure on Earth. Satellites may also have trouble orienting themselves or sending or receiving information during these events.

The current storm is classified as G5, or “extreme.” It is caused by a cluster of sunspots — dark, cool regions on the solar surface — that is about 16 times the diameter of Earth. The cluster is flaring and ejecting material every six to 12 hours.

“We anticipate that we’re going to get one shock after another through the weekend,” said Brent Gordon, chief of the space weather services branch at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

Why is this happening now?

The sun’s activity ebbs and flows on an 11-year cycle, and right now, it is approaching a solar maximum. Three other severe geomagnetic storms have been observed so far in the current activity cycle, which began in December 2019, but none were predicted to cause effects strong enough on Earth to warrant a watch or warning announcement.

The cluster of sunspots generating the current storm is the largest seen in this solar cycle, NOAA officials said. They added that the activity in this cycle has outperformed initial predictions .

More flares and expulsions from this cluster are expected, but because of the sun’s rotation the cluster will be oriented in a position less likely to affect Earth. In the coming weeks, the sunspots may appear again on the left side of the sun, but it is difficult for scientists to predict whether this will cause another bout of activity.

“Usually, these don’t come around packing as much of a punch as they did originally,” Mr. Dahl said. “But time will tell on that.”

Jonathan O’Callaghan contributed reporting from London.

An earlier version of this article misstated the radio frequencies used by cellphones and car radios. They are higher frequencies, not low.

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Katrina Miller is a science reporting fellow for The Times. She recently earned her Ph.D. in particle physics from the University of Chicago. More about Katrina Miller

Judson Jones is a meteorologist and reporter for The Times who forecasts and covers extreme weather. More about Judson Jones

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