Should Christians watch Netflix’s Christian musical “A Week Away”
Last year Netflix released a movie called “A Week Away”. In this musical a young man named Will Hawkins, who is a troubled teen, is faced with a decision of either being sent to juvie for stealing a cop car or attending summer camp with a foster family. However, when he gets to camp he realizes it is a Christian summer camp. He feels he has to hide his past so he can fit in with the rest of the campers. Ultimately, he finds love, friends, and family. This is everything he’s been looking for, but then his true identity is revealed to his newfound friends. Will they forgive him?
This is a good comfort movie that the entire family can watch. This is Netflix’s first Christian musical that appeals to the younger generation. So the real question is: Is this a good Christian movie for Christians to watch?
As a Christian who grew up watching wholesome musicals such as High School Musical, Camp Rock, Lemonade Mouth, and Teen Beach Movie I was excited for this movie. I was interested to see how Netflix would acknowledge their Christian audience and if they would accurately portray them. I have to say that Netflix did OK. Let me explain.
Despite most of the movie taking place at a Christian summer camp, there is not one Bible shown throughout the movie. It is common knowledge (in the Christian world) that you bring your Bible to church camp to participate in Bible study. The fact that Netflix does not include this essential part of Bible camp is careless at best, and shows they did not do much research into what a Christian summer camp is really like. The movie barely refers to the Bible or God besides in the songs that the characters sing.
The movie combines their original songs with old Christian songs. These old Christan songs include “The Great Adventure” by Steven Curtis Chapman, “Place in This World’’ by Michael W. Smith, and “Awesome God’’ by Richard Mullins.
I love the fact that Netflix chose to include the classic church song “Big House” by Audio Adrenaline into the movie. I also appreciate that the song “God Only Knows” by Kings of Country was included as well. One complaint I have is that I would have liked to see more Christian songs like these in the movie that praise God. I also want to mention that when the characters sing the mashup of “Awesome God” and “God Only Knows” I noticed that they slightly changed the lyrics in “God Only Knows”. Instead of singing “But there’s a kind of love that God only knows” they sing “Is there a kind of love that God only knows”. This may not seem like a big deal, but switching “but” to “if” questions God’s love instead of being confident in God’s love.
Despite my complaints about this movie, there are some good things that I like that this movie did. The movie’s soundtrack is great. The songs have good messages and are easy to sing along to. The young adults who they casted in the movie are amazing singers and really bring the songs to life. I appreciate how Netflix made a movie that painted Christians in a good light.
This is a cute musical that can be fun for Christians to watch. I would recommend this movie to Christians looking for a good movie to watch with the family. There’s a lot of things that Christians can relate to in this movie, and it is surprising that a movie like this exists on a mainstream media platform like Netflix. However, if you are looking for a Christian movie that digs deep into Jesus and praises God, this is not the movie for you. This movie does a decent job outlining what a Christian summer camp is like, but it is lukewarm in showing the lifestyle of Christians. If you are interested in watching something that shows Christians on fire for God, you will need to continue to watch non-mainstream Christian movies and subscribe to the streaming service, Pure Flix, to get your dose of true to life Christian content.
