The Weekend Away (2022)

The Weekend Away is the kind of sleek, fast-moving thriller that grabs you by the wrist and drags you through sunlit Croatian streets that feel gorgeous by day and ominous by night. Leighton Meester anchors the film with a committed, lived-in performance, making Beth’s fear and determination feel urgent even as the story gleefully keeps shifting the ground under her. Director Kim Farrant keeps the pacing tight and the vibe pulpy in a satisfying, page-turner way—each new clue doesn’t just answer a question, it quietly plants a worse one. If you’re looking for a heavyweight, deeply realistic mystery this may feel a bit “movie-ish,” but if you want an entertaining, twisty ride in an irresistible setting, it delivers.

The Weekend Away wants to be a slick, vacation-gone-wrong mystery where a missing friend and a hazy night spiral into paranoia, betrayal, and danger in a gorgeous Croatian setting. It’s watchable and Leighton Meester does solid work selling the panic and isolation, but the story leans hard on coincidences and convenient reveals, so the suspense can feel more like plot machinery than genuine dread. If you like tidy, fast-paced thrillers that keep tossing new “gotchas” at you, you’ll probably cruise through it. If you need grounded logic, escalating tension, and twists that feel earned rather than stacked, this may leave you rolling your eyes instead of gripping the couch.