Long Weekend

Long Weekend opens with a shooting star soaring across the Los Angeles skyline, a brief hint that something magical is about to take place. And something magical does happen, sort of. In Basilone’s directorial debut, Bart (Wittrock) is sick, although it’s unclear with what, but it’s tearing him up emotionally. In a streak of woebegone decisions, Bart finds himself at a midday movie with a giant bottle of whiskey, ready to drink his sorrows away. This is where he meets Vienna (Chao): a dazzling woman who carries around wads of cash, no ID, and mysteriously has broken her cell phone. She’s a manic pixie dream girl, with emphasis on the dream.

As one could guess, the two are immediately charmed by another, and love is in the air. But it doesn’t come without its complications, because Vienna is actually a time traveler from the not-so-distant year of 2052.

Time travel is often a device in romances that creates an obstacle that keeps the two lovers apart, a tool to heighten the drama and intensity of their love. Long Weekend is not interested in that, though. Without any tools to prove she’s from the future, and with the knowledge that Bart himself has been dealing with mental health issues, Vienna’s story is a red flag, and one Bart keeps ignoring because he’s desperate for human connection after his divorce.

Long Weekend’s exploration and normalization of mental health struggles means well, but is unraveled by its ending, which feels like a twist from a mid-2000s Korean drama. Perhaps the gut-punch of the double twist would have played out better if the two leads had any ounce of chemistry on screen, but the script doesn’t give them a lot to work with. Their lack of connection has much less to do with the performances (Wittrock and Chao are charming enough), and more to do with the writing. Basilone plays it safe with his two leads: their conversations are never too deep, sans one story about Vienna stargazing with her dad at a young age. Romances are all about the deep connection, and when that fails, you’ve got nothing to anchor your audience in.

In fact, Long Weekend does in a way feel like it cares more about subverting the manic pixie dream girl trope over its characters’ chemistry. Bart word-for-word calls Vienna that during their meet-cute, and it’s hard to erase the semi-dated reference once it’s brought up, making the frustrating twist a bit on the obvious side. Long Weekend had all the tools to make a wistful, escapist romance that explores and overcomes some of the stigmas of mental health, but it flatlines.