Everyone loves to see female friendships portrayed in the media, especially when Jennifer Garner is the main character. The Five Star Weekend follows the story of a famous food blogger Hollis Shaw (Jennifer Garner), who lost her husband suddenly in a car accident. As she deals with the pain of this tragic loss, she gathers a friend from each stage of her life and invites them to a weekend in Nantucket for a girls trip and a chance to reconnectÂ
The friends joining her for the weekend include a fan who reached out following her husband’s passing ,Gigi (Gemma Chan), her childhood best friend Tatum (ChloĂ« Sevigny), her roommate and best friend in college Dru-Ann, (Regina Hall), and her closest “mom” friend, Brooke (D’Arcy Carden).
Each woman arrives on the trip carrying the weight of their own personal struggles. Gigi is hiding a life-altering secret from the group, Tatum is dealing with a medical scare, Dru-Ann is facing major challenges at work, and Brooke is slowly coming to terms with the issues in her marriage. Despite all the pain the women were carrying in their individual lives, they still came together to support one another.Â
The main takeaway I had after finishing the show was how each of the women were there to not only comfort each other, but also challenge one another to have difficult conversations. Jennifer Garner’s character was having an extremely difficult time dealing with grief; she felt as if she had to have everything together and be “perfect” despite what she was dealing with internally. Her four friends pushed her to open up and created a safe space for her to feel her emotions and “let it all out”. They went as far as passing around a “talking stick” and whoever was holding the stick, had the chance to speak openly about their problems. While helping their friend with grief, the women also made a point to create a space to talk about each of the hardships they were facing. Through honest conversations, hard truths, and laughter, they left their weekend girls trip with clarity.Â
The Five Star Weekend puts on display the importance of female friendship and having people to lean on, even when you don’t want to admit you’re hurting. This show is a refreshing reminder that friendships only get stronger with age and that you’re never too old to reconnect with those you’ve lost touch with.