Brush off the last of that winter chill and dive into summer camp with Netflix’s new faith-based musical, A Week Away.
When rebellious teen Will Hawkins (Kevin Quinn) has a run in with the law, he’s given two choices: go to juvie or attend summer camp. It seems like an easy enough decision, until Will finds out it’s a Christian summer camp – definitely not his scene. When he arrives at Camp Aweegaway, he soon meets a host of interesting folks. There’s the enthusiastic camp owner (David Koechner), a caring counselor (Sherri Shepherd); Will’s kind and nerdy bunkmate, George (Jahbril Cook); a sweet and self-conscious camper, Presley (Kat Conner Sterling); and competitive Avery (Bailee Madison), the camp owner’s daughter and Will’s newfound crush.
To fit in, Will decides to keep his past a secret and focus on playing music and getting to know Avery better. But as he finds himself being drawn into the world of Camp Aweegaway, Will starts asking himself some tough questions. Where did his faith go? And will he ever find his place in the world?
While A Week Away is a fun-filled musical with singing and dancing, it also tackles some important issues, including accepting ourselves the way we are and keeping our faith after loss.
The message of acceptance was important for actor and musician Alan Powell who wrote A Week Away. “I wanted to write a movie that told [my daughters] that they were good enough,” Powell said in a recent interview with Guideposts.org. “That told them they were loved and beautiful and incredible just the way they are.”
This message comes through in the film’s musical number “Good Enough,” where Will and Avery try to convince their friends to be themselves and to remind them that God made them exactly how they should be.
“This movie is about self-acceptance,” says Jahbril Cook, who plays George. “Every character is having that internal struggle of ‘Is what I’m doing enough? Will I be accepted?’ In the end, being yourself is all you ever need to do. I think that will resonate with everyone.”
The film also discusses keeping your faith after dealing with a loss. Or finding it again. Will lost his parents when he was ten years old, and Avery has dealt with a big loss of her own. For them, faith is sometimes a complicated topic.
“Faith is a journey,” said Bailee Madison, who plays Avery and was also a producer for the film. “Now more than ever our world needs a bit of hope and warmth and love and light. My hope is we can get some kids off their sofa to dance with their family.”
And the music of A Week Away is sure to do that. Powell was inspired to write this story after listening to the music of Adam Watts, who has written more than a dozen number #1 Christian contemporary songs, as well as the music for Disney classics like High School Musical, Camp Rock, and Hannah Montana.
Powell got in touch with Watts through a friend; Watts loved the project and soon joined the team. Watts aimed to create timeless music that any generation could appreciate. “I hope somebody comes away from this film with one or multiple songs that they put on repeat and it just becomes theirs,” he said.
The film also includes a soundtrack of classic Christian songs from musicians such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, for KING & COUNTRY and more.
A Week Away was directed by Roman White and streams on Netflix starting March 26. See the inspiring trailer below.
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