3 Day Weekend (2020) Dances With Films 2020

3 Day Weekend is a film you really have to watch. While it is a really good film and you should see it, when I say you have to watch the film, I mean you have to look at the screen since there is very little dialog with story told via action, cellphone screens or via information on the screen. If you are looking at the screen you are going to be lost.

The plot involves a man named Ben who goes camping to clear his head. He then discovers what he thinks is the kidnapping of a young deaf woman…and then things get complicated. The complication comes because we learn that what Ben is seeing isn’t the whole story. Much more is happening which you will have to see.

I liked 3 Day Weekend. I like that the film chooses to forcibly engage the audience. You need to pay attention or else you are going to have no idea what is happening. In this age of been there and done that, where a single line of dialog can give everything away seeing a film that isn’t the same old same old is delight.

If I have to quibble with the film at all it is a slight issue with the direction. Wyatt McDill does a fine job in moving things along, there are a couple of times where a shot here or there seems to have been used to either reduce the dialog or to move things along and it doesn’t feel natural. It’s as if the functional shot was chosen over the natural one. It is as if the conceits of the filmmaking got in the way of the perfect shot. It’s not fatal but it is occasionally noticeable.

Quibble aside 3 Day Weekend is worth a look, especially for anyone who wants a film that is steadfastly not your typical Hollywood film.

3 Day Weekend is screening at Dances with Films