A Week Away Review: It’s Been So Long Since I’ve Felt So Connected

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A Week Away is a decent family movie, but one that falls into a pretty saturated genre.

What Happens in A Week Away?

A Week Away follows Will, a troubled kid who lost his parents at a young age. After losing his parents, Will was bounced from foster home to foster home, committing small felonies as he went. His latest felony involved stealing, or “borrowing”, a cop car. After being caught, Will was on the verge of being sent juvie. Instead, Will was given the opportunity to attend a Christian summer camp. There, he meets friends, rivals, and a romantic interest all while competing to be the best tribe during the daily activities.

Who Are The Characters in A Week Away?

 A Week Away has three protagonist characters who attend the summer camp. Will is a troubled kid who lost his parents when he was younger and has since bounced from foster home to foster home while committing some minor crimes along the way. With the decision to either go to juvie or this summer camp, he picks the summer camp where he will come to meet some people who might change his perspective on life.

George is the son of one of the camp organizers and it was his mom’s idea to bring Will to the camp. Although he is pretty comfortable at camp, George has confidence issues that Will can help him overcome. Avery is the daughter of the other camp organiser and she seems to have everything figured out. She is very kind, confident, and just generally well-liked. While she does seem that way, she does have some self-doubt and just wants to be the best she can be.

A Week Away Review

A Week Away is a decent family movie, but one that falls into a pretty saturated genre. This musical, summer camp movie does better than I expected to differentiate from other movies in this genre, but it is still incredibly predictable. I enjoyed most of the songs, but the bigger thing was they didn’t feel out of place. The musical numbers were slotted in throughout, and they hit their mark in the moment. 

The plot in this one isn’t nearly as good as it could have been, but we have to take a few things into consideration with this one. Number 1, if you are looking for a plot-heavy movie with twists and turns, you are in the wrong genre to begin with. And number 2, this movie didn’t need a strong plot to be fun to watch.

The characters are really written well, and they make cliche moments just a little bit more bearable. They take moments that you see coming from a mile away and turn them into something that is going to make you chuckle or smile. 

The other thing that really surprised me was the emotional swing. The plot follows an archetype, but the emotions of this movie drop really quickly and a lot further than I expected. This steep drop makes the ending that much better, and it also really helps to further our characters. Our characters follow a pretty straight character arc, but it is entertaining to watch them grow.

This movie, plot and characters, is one of the better examples of “it’s the journey, not the destination that matters” because you know where it’s going. It’s kind of like The Super Mario Movie, you know where it ends and how it ends, but the moments along the way are the reason to watch this movie.

The camp itself is super cool, and I loved the location where they decided to film this. A Week Away may have huge cliche vibes with a predictable plotline, but that shouldn’t take away from the characters or the writing. The little moments and emotional swings will hold your attention and bring a little bit of joy into your home.