The Weekend Away is a 2022 American thriller film directed by Kim Farrant from a screenplay by Sarah Alderson, based on Anderson’s 2020 novel of the same name. Its story follows a woman named Beth (Leighton Meester), who travels to Croatia for a weekend getaway with her best friend Kate. However, Kate goes missing and Beth is forced to figure out what happened to her. The film was released on Netflix on March 3, 2022.
New mom Beth flies to Croatia for an all expenses paid trip planned by her best friend Kate who is newly divorced. At dinner Beth confesses that her marriage to Rob is going through a dull patch and is shocked when Kate takes them to a club and suggests she cheat on her husband.
The following morning Beth wakes up with little recollection of what happened and realizes Kate is missing. After contacting Rob and Kate’s ex Jay, both of whom dismiss her concerns, she contacts the police who also downplay Kate’s disappearance. Only Zain, the Syrian immigrant who drove Kate and Beth to the club, is concerned for Kate and agrees to help Beth. With Zain’s help Beth is able to recover Kate’s purse and phone.
With new information Beth returns to the police who finally agree to start looking for Kate. Rob also arrives in Croatia and is immediately suspicious of Zain. Kate’s body is found shortly after. Beth uses facial recognition to use Kate’s face to open her phone. She discovers texts between Rob and Kate that reveal they were having an affair.
Beth is called into the police station, who confirm that Beth is now the primary suspect. The autopsy revealed that both Kate and Beth had drugs in their system, which Beth suspected due to her memory loss but insists that she was involuntarily drugged. The police also interviewed the two escorts, who have no criminal history and deny any wrongdoing. They also reveal that Zain has connections to a sex-trafficking gang, and accuse Beth of hiring him to get rid of Kate due to her affair with Rob. The police take Beth’s passport so she cannot leave the country but let her go. Beth confronts Zain, who admits to having ties with the gang but insists he had nothing to do with Kate’s disappearance.