COUPLES WEEKEND

(director/writer: Nora Kirkpatrick;  cinematographer:
Jeff Leeds Cohn; editor: Henry Hayes; music:
Mitchell Yoshida; cast: Alexandra Daddario (Debs), Daveed Diggs (Josh), Josh Gad (Mitch), Ashley Park (Melanie), Kevin Pollak (Gary, cabin owner); Runtime: 96; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Lynette Howell Taylor, Samantha Housman; Vertical; 2025)

“Dark dramedy that lacks credibility.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Nora Kirkpatrick is the first-time feature-film writer-director of this dark dramedy that lacks credibility. It was formerly called “A Tree Fell in the Woods.”

The 30-something author Debs (Alexandra Daddario) and the 40-something wildlife photographer Josh (Daveed Diggs) are a married couple. They meet the 40-something Mitch (Josh Gad) and his 30-something wife Melanie (Ashley Park). He’s a businessman and a friend of Debs for the last 15 years, while Melanie writes cookbooks. They decide to celebrate the New Year together by renting a cabin in the woods. The cabin is in an unnamed state (it was filmed in Utah).

On their first morning in the cabin, Debs and Mitch take a walk in the snowy woods. Things become frightening when a tree falls and narrowly misses them. They rush back to the cabin to tell their spouses about their near-death moment, only to find them screwing.

They can’t leave the next morning as a blizzard closes the roads, so they’re stuck in the cabin together for a few more days. This touchy infidelity situation is resolved in a strained and contrived manner through whiny conversations and drinking from a mysterious bottle found in the cabin.

The film is neither dramatic or funny, and the dialogue is stilted. It’s more a stage-play than a movie, but not good either way.

It played at the Tribeca Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 5/30/2026  GRADE: C-
dennisschwartzreviews.com