A Week Away

 "You Didn't Tell Me It's A Christian Camp!"

Our protagonist, Will, has this excuse early in the Netflix original, A Week Away. I, however, did not, because Brennan Kline clearly told me. This is a Christian musical set at a Summer camp.

Let's bury the lede no further; this is a gloriously terrible movie. 

I came to Christian culture later than many people. Middle of high school, a depressed, lost, borderline suicidal teenager found love and stability in a church. I also left said culture relatively quickly. It was a gradual leaving process, but Katrina was pretty much the final nail for my faith. Around 25.

So roughly a decade in my life, about 15 years removed from the final frayed end. So why are so many of the songs ones in this movie ones that I know from those days? Many of them were already bordering on classic status then.

Awesome God by Rich Mullins was a song he wrote while on a tour, but he finished it on the way to or at Rock Lake Christian Assembly, where he first played it publicly... Which just so happens to be the Christian summer camp I spent a few weeks working as a volunteer counselor during my college years.

So, yes, part of this movie sparks nostalgia for me. It likely won't for you if you don't have experience in the Christian culture.

So, we move back into the actual movie, and it's absurd. Randomly breaking into song is something that has never bothered me, I love musicals, but a lot of these are VERY randomly. The plot is thin at best, and more than a little absurd. Our "bad boy" protagonist is a deeply kind and respectful young man, who treats women well, and causes no real problems at the camp.

Somehow, though, we still have a stereotypical asshole kid, Sean, who, naturally, wants Will's love interest Avery and will do anything to get her. Or maybe just to fuck Will over, who knows? Clear and strong motivations aren't exactly a strength of this movie.

There is also a secondary love plot between Will's new best friend, George, and Avery's best friend Presley. To be totally honest, they're kinda adorable and maybe the best part of the movie.

We skim some theological questions of mild depth, but you'll be surprised to learn it all works out.

On the level of craft... Eh, it's your standard Netflix original. Competently made, but nothing notably good, and way to shiny and digital looking. The singing is decent if obviously touched up by autotune.

This is, again, a bad movie. But it's fun bad, and it strikes just the right chords for me.

Their God may be an Awesome God, but their movie is a glorious disaster. 

It sucks. I'm so glad I watched it.