Jennifer Garner leads an all-star cast in The Five Star Weekend, a new drama now available exclusively in the UK and Ireland on Sky and NOW. Based on the bestselling novel by The Perfect Couple author Elin Hilderbrand, all episodes arrived today, 16 July. We have been waiting for this one, so we are very excited!
Garner stars as Hollis Shaw, a successful cook and bestselling author known for her recipes and carefully presented public life. After suffering a devastating loss, Hollis is left dealing with her grief while the cracks in her seemingly perfect world begin to show, including a complicated relationship with her daughter.
Hoping to work through her grief and reconnect with the person she used to be, Hollis invites friends from different stages of her life to spend a weekend at her Nantucket home. The group includes people who knew her during childhood, her twenties and her thirties, alongside a surprise fifth guest.
Bringing friends from entirely different chapters of your life together under one roof may sound like a lovely idea in theory. In practice, it leaves plenty of room for old tensions to return and long-held secrets to emerge as the weekend begins to move away from the peaceful escape Hollis had planned.
Alongside Garner, the ensemble cast includes D’Arcy Carden, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall and Chloë Sevigny. Harlow Jane and Timothy Olyphant also star, with Rob Huebel, David Denman, Josh Hamilton, West Duchovny, Judy Greer, Tory Devon Smith, Morrison Keddie and Roberta Colindrez completing the wider cast.
The series was adapted by Bekah Brunstetter and is produced by Universal Content Productions. Brunstetter executive produces alongside Sue Naegle, Ali Krug, Garner, Hilderbrand, Merri Howard, Beth Schacter and director Minkie Spiro. Sky’s Director of Acquisitions and Strategic Projects, Lucy Criddle, described the series as a character-led drama and said its ensemble made it a strong addition to Sky and NOW’s line-up.
For CultureCues, we have been looking forward to this one for a while. The trailer was powerful and showed female friendship at its best, with Jennifer Garner leading a genuinely flawless cast. It looks like The Five Star Weekend is going to make us laugh, cry and watch plenty of secrets come out along the way. We are fully ready for the pyjama dance party. We will be watching, with a review coming soon.
All episodes of The Five Star Weekend are streaming now on Sky and NOW in the UK and Ireland.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.