Families are the most important part of our lives. As we are born, we learn and adapt to things that we see in our family, both good and bad. A number of people in the world are born into dysfunctional families where they either have abusive and alcoholic parents or absent parents. Statistically, the number of abusive and alcoholic fathers is higher. In most cases, the mothers silently tolerate the torture, for the fathers are the providers. This is how the age-old patriarchy has victimized women and made them paralyzed. It is a known fact that unless we resist something wrong, it grows on us like a terrible mold until it engulfs us. Children who grow up facing abusive parents often turn out to be disturbed individuals. Society then outcasts them. This vicious cycle breaks only when the pattern of abuse is recognized and broken. However, in most cases, the pattern breaks much later, and the damage is already done. The film The Longest Weekend by director Molly Haddon talks about one such family. Three siblings who grew apart as soon as they stepped into adulthood had been victims of an abusive and alcoholic father. Also, after a while, their father just bailed on them, and they grew up in a broken family. This dysfunctional nature of the family deeply impacted the three siblings and their life choices. The film is a wonderful portrayal of how children from broken families are in constant search of love and affection.
Spoilers Ahead
Homecoming
The film begins by introducing us to a girl named Lou. She is a hairdresser by profession and lives a reckless life where she parties all night and is jobless. She has her best friend, Sasha, and the duo seems to be physically intimate as well. The portrayal of Lou is a stereotypical projection of a lesbian with bright nails, tattoos, and short dyed hair who loves wearing dark clothes and is reckless about her life. We are also introduced to Rio, a young adult who plays video games on his friend’s couch and with his friend and his father. He seemed to be mostly aimless and clueless about his life. Also, we meet another woman named Avery, who sits in her car and hogs a sandwich with french fries, and she looks distressed. The three siblings were called by their mother, Sadie, to request that they come to their home on Monday for dinner. Sadie told them that she was leaving for a vacation and would love to see them all at home on Monday. All three siblings seemed reluctant and either hung up the phone or did not respond to text messages.
Reunion
Lou had to leave her rented apartment because she could not pay the bills anymore. So she packed her things and headed towards her mother’s house. She rang the bell and waited for someone to open the door. When nobody answered the door, she unlocked it with a spare key and went inside. Soon her brother Rio came in and was shocked to see her in the house. Avery, too, walked into the house. It was no surprise that the reunion was not pleasant. Avery kept complaining that the house wasn’t taken care of well, Rio kept claiming that the house was his, and Lou began drinking. The trio seemed disturbed and irritated by each other’s presence. Lou went out that night and came back with an escort. The next morning, after the escort left, she again began drinking. Her friend Sasha came to drop off her bookshelf. Sasha saw the hickey on Lou’s neck and got jealous. They have a heated and emotional argument about their relationship. Lou made it clear that she does not want to be a part of a monogamous relationship, arguing that it is a heteronormal social construct that she hates. Sasha, on the other hand, said that they could at least try to be a couple because they have been together since they were kids, and they love each other. But Lou was adamant about how she felt, which left Sasha broken and teary, and she left the house.
Avery was pissed at her sister’s behavior, and the trio broke into a fight. We learn the truth about Avery as well. Avery was planning to leave her husband, who had been constantly cheating on her. Rio was quiet on the scene, but soon we knew the real reason. He had a plan to meet their father.
Facing The Abuser
Hearing Rio’s plan to meet their father, Avery, and Lou were shocked. They did not want Rio to meet the man. Rio was very young when their father left, and as elder siblings, Avery and Lou had protected him from the wrath of their father. The sisters narrated the characteristics of their father. Luo narrated the most harrowing experience of her childhood. She recalled that once she and Sasha were naked and intimately hugging each other. The father stormed into the room and saw the two in such an embrace. He then called Sasha’s mother and asked her to take her home, and then she thrashed Lou like he had never before and kept verbally abusing her too. Rio was shocked to learn the truth about their father. But in his mind, he wanted to see him and try to reconcile with his father. The next day, Avery drives Lou and Rio to the bar where they plan to meet their father. The father was shocked to see Lou with Rio, but he had no repentance. He was still drinking, and he got his stories about his children mixed up. But the father said that he did not leave; it was their mother who asked him to leave. Also, the father justified his actions by saying that he was disciplined by a strict father himself, and he just did that to his children. But he hinted at Luo’s sexuality as a lack of discipline. The duo left and met Avery in the car, who was profusely crying out of anxiety.
‘The Longest Weekend’ Ending
The trio got back home, and Lou was having an anxious breakdown. She kept blaming Rio for trying to reconnect with their father. She ran outside and walked around the block, crying. While Rio was silent and took refuge in his room, Avery decided that he would leave his husband. The sooner Avery learned that their mother asked their father to leave, the sooner the family understood that breaking an abusive pattern requires courage to end it. The next morning, the day when their mother was supposed to be back, the three siblings were cleaning up the house. Their mother had kept a lot of things from their childhood in boxes. They sorted a few boxes and moved them out. This was a symbol of leaving the past and moving on with memories that count. In the end, the trio found a videotape of their childhood memories and began to watch it. In the meantime, their mother, Sadie, comes back and is surprised to see all her children together. The family finally reunites, this time without any trauma or negativity.