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| Directed by Stella Meghie |
| United States, 2018 (fiction, 87 minutes, colour, English) |
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Film Description: "[...] Fronted by Saturday Night Live alumna Sasheer Zamata, The Weekend chronicles three days of seductions, sabotage, and secrets unearthed. Zadie (Zamata) is 29, a stand-up comedian and, as she puts it, 'extremely single.' It has been three years since she split with Bradford, though the two remain close friends. Close enough that when Zadie invites him to her mother's bed and breakfast, Bradford brings along his current girlfriend, Margo. As the weekend progresses, no one is spared from Zadie's acerbic wit—Margo least of all. If things weren't uncomfortable enough, the three are soon joined by Aubrey, a handsome stranger from Montreal with no idea what sort of situation he's checked into. Jealousies and desires are stoked in tandem. The isolated B&B, with its bucolic surroundings designed to create an air of tranquility only heightens the tension. Zadie is smart and funny, but also self-absorbed to the point where she cannot see the troubles brewing right under her nose. Using a pleasingly light touch, [Stella] Meghie imbues each of her characters with complexity, charisma, and the capacity for change. By the time The Weekend is over, none of them will return to their daily lives without a fresh perspective." -- Cameron Bailey (source) |
| Film Credits (partial): | |
| Written by: | Stella Meghie |
| Produced by: | Stephanie Allain, James Gibb, Mel Jones, Sarah Lazow, Stella Meghie, Joshua Bachove, Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor |
| Principal Cast: | Sasheer Zamata, Tone Bell, DeWanda Wise, Kym Whitley, Y'lan Noel, Josefina Landeros |
| Cinematography: | Kris Belchevski |
| Film Editing: | Shannon Baker Davis |
| Music: | Robi Botos |
| Production Company: | Homegrown Pictures, Marada Pictures |
"The Weekend, a gentle zephyr of a romantic comedy from Canadian writer-director Stella Meghie, practically dares its audience to make Woody Allen comparisons from the very beginning, as stark white-on-black title cards usher in a muted, clarinet-led jazz score of faintly mournful whimsy. Check. It continues: Our protagonist is a dry, lovelorn standup comic, inclined to drop references to Godard and Fellini in casual conversation, working out romantic issues against a backdrop of warm autumnal melancholy. Check, check, check. Yet if Meghie's easy, amiable film could be seen as a tribute of sorts to the embattled auteur, it also works to pointedly show up his (and many of his peers') blind spots. It's all set in California, for one thing, but more importantly, it's centered entirely on a quartet of African-American millennials—a demographic rarely called upon to carry this kind of generously talky, relationship-focused indie."
-- Guy Lodge
(source)
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