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Parents' Guide to

A Week Away

By Jennifer Green, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Feel-good faith-based camp musical is clean and upbeat.

Movie NR 2021 97 minutes
A Week Away Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 9+

Based on 30 parent reviews

age 5+

Great movie, hope there’s more

Loved this movie. Bailee Madison did a great job as did the lead male role. Really enjoyed the songs, my kids have Alexa play them over and over. I hope they make more like this! I just wish Netflix would allow you to buy the movie without a Netflix subscription because we don’t use Netflix (watched it at a friends house), but would have bought this movie.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
2 people found this helpful.
age 9+

Teenagers in 90's will love sharing with their kids

Going to Christian camp in the 90's made this a gem to share with my kids (ages 12, 11 and 9). Sweet, cheesy but authentic with music from the 90's Christian music with cameos from Stephen Curtis Chapman & Amy Grant. Darling family film!
2 people found this helpful.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (30 ):
Kids say (50 ):

This Christian teen musical looks to ride the High School Musical wave, but despite positive messages and fine performances, it's not likely to leave as lasting an impression. Some aspects of A Week Away's storyline make the film a little hard to believe, while many of the musical numbers lack the energy or catchy melodies of the HSM series. Quinn (Bunk'd) could be a Zac Efron double, and he has the charisma and singing chops to lead the cast, with TV veteran Madison (Good Witch) holding her own in the song-and-dance numbers. Both offer credible performances as teens struggling with deep sadness after losing parents. But as George, newcomer Cook nearly steals the show thanks to his combination of comic timing and vocal range. Most of the film's pleasantly goofy moments involve George.

Viewers are by now accustomed to teens breaking into song in the middle of everyday events, although the popular genre can't be accused of representing teen life very realistically. A Week Away carries an added layer of incredulity in the Christian teens' apparent innocence. While Avery sings about the pressures of trying to be "perfect" and finding one's "place in the world," even bad boy Will comes across as just a nice kid strapped with difficult circumstances. The dialogue doesn't clarify exactly what's going to happen to Will after his week away, making it additionally hard to believe he would so good-naturedly go with the flow at this camp. Still, the film tries to show how religious faith and communal experiences like sleepaway camps can allow teens to feel "connected" and part of something bigger, and there may be nothing that today's teens need more.

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