Long Weekend (2021)

Long Weekend is the kind of romantic comedy that sneaks up on you: it starts with the familiar music of meet-cute charm, then quietly shifts into something sweeter, stranger, and more heartfelt than you expect. Finn Wittrock’s Bart feels genuinely adrift rather than sitcom-sad, and when Zoë Chao’s Vienna breezes in, their chemistry has that rare, lived-in ease that makes even small conversations feel like a lifeline. The film’s vibe is warm and comforting with a soft undercurrent of melancholy, and its playful twist gives the romance a gentle sense of wonder without turning it into a gimmick. It’s not for everyone—there’s strong language and a frank, adult haze around depression and messy coping—but if you like love stories that leave room for hope, ambiguity, and a little magic, this one is easy to fall into.

Long Weekend is aiming for a breezy, slightly magical rom-com about a depressed guy getting jolted back to life by an enigmatic woman and a time-bending twist. The problem is the script often feels thin for what it wants to pull off, so the “big idea” can land more like a cute gimmick than a satisfying emotional payoff. If you’re sensitive to romances where the female lead exists mostly to fix the male lead, you’ll likely find Vienna underwritten and the whole setup a bit irritating rather than charming. Still, Finn Wittrock sells the wounded-but-hopeful vibe, and if you’re in the mood for a small, talky, bittersweet weekend fantasy (with R-rated language and adult themes), it can go down easy enough.