Caption: A promotion of the new “A Week Away” television series by Angel Studios included this digital image. [photo provided by Angel Studios]
By Grace Meier
The original Netflix movie, “A Week Away,” that was released on March 26, 2021, had fans speculating since then if there would be a sequel. Although Netflix did not take on a second project, the original writer and director Alan Powell and Kali Bailey teamed up with writer and actor, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, to produce a series that would air on Angel Studios. This time it’s called “A Week Away: The Series.”
Though this show is not an exact continuation of the original movie, and may have taken away some extra potential that the show could’ve had, the plot of the series is similar to that of the movie, bringing in new but similar characters to provide the story line to match the original movie. The first episode of the series aired on August 28 and the entire first season is now available on the Angel Studios.
The similarity in the plot is reflected in the sense that the main male protagonist doesn’t believe in Jesus or God anymore and lost both his parents at a young age. Eventually, by the end of the first season, which takes place in the seventh episode, he comes to a place in his life where he has to choose to trust and have faith or deny the opportunity to turn to Christ and run away.
On a personal critique, after watching the first two episodes, I believe that the “A Week Away” series adds some characters and scenes that I personally do not believe were necessary and overall did not add anything to the series besides a few unnecessary cliches.
There are two characters that more resemble Sharpay and Ryan Evans from “High School Musical” that I believe take away from the touching spirit-filled feel that the show was supposedly aiming to achieve.
In reviewing the songs in the series, I find the sound to be more upbeat and buoyant. They add some extra kick to their choreography and lyrics that may have actually lessened the impact of the message behind certain songs. Some of the scenes, that are supposedly heartfelt and impactful, seem to come off more silly.
My review is based on my impressions of “A Week Away,” the 2021 movie. In comparison, the scenes had a much more realistic and touching feel to them that tied the whole movie. This portrayal really helped the songs, scenes, and characters come through to affect the viewer in a way to make them feel the impact that the characters in the movie may have been feeling.
Certain scenes in the series had an almost mocking tone and contradictory feel that only took away from the message that the show is trying to give; believing in God because it makes you change from that of a sinner.
In a specific scene from the A Week Away series, the camp pastor lies to the main protagonist by making him believe that he is a camper, when a big reason why the main protagonist doesn’t believe anymore is because he can’t trust people that say they should be trusted.
This scene contradicts the whole message that the show is trying to perceive by making the main protagonist just more secure in his disbelief.
Though the series has its flaws, it does have a lot of well thought out scenes and production that makes it a good, quality musical show.
The camp that they are using to shoot the series is the same place that the movie filmed, and this really helps the series to feel like a continuation of the movie and not just a random, unrelated show.
The series overall did hit the main points of what the movie originally was portraying. Though still having flaws, it has its good points overall and you will have a good time while watching it. If Angel studios decides to move forward with a second season of this series, I am hopeful that the screenwriters will dive deeper into the real struggles of today’s teenagers grappling with a faith that seems to contradict the culture in which they live.
In the meantime, you can watch the first two episodes for free, but you will need to become a Guild member of Angel.com (a streaming platform for Christian-based movies) in order to have access to the full season.
