The Five-Star Weekend

Dru Ann enjoys shopping alone, mainly because her taste differs from the other women in her group. She purchases several expensive and glamorous dresses. While doing so, two young women gravitate toward Dru-Ann, inquiring about her purchases. They begin filming Dru-Ann, who assumes the girls are social media influencers.

Suddenly, the two girls confront Dru-Ann about Posey and demand she apologize. Dru-Ann thinks she finally has her opportunity to explain how Posey faked a mental health condition to shirk her responsibilities. The girls refuse to believe her and tell Dru-Ann they will not amplify her perspective. They insist that Dru-Ann apologize for her words and confess their disappointment in a woman they previously considered their hero.

Hollis follows Tatum to Black-Eyed Susan’s, a popular breakfast restaurant. Though she keeps her distance on the walk, Hollis sits with Tatum, Kyle, and Jack when they arrive at the restaurant. Kyle happily declares, “The band is back together” (182). Kyle and Jack tell the women about their evening out—they had run into Tatum’s boss, Irina—and Hollis notices Tatum is jealous that Kyle shared company with other women. Tatum, crying, leaves for the bathroom.

Hollis comments about Tatum’s jealousy, but Kyle clarifies that Tatum feels scared about learning the result of her biopsy. The news startles Hollis, and Kyle realizes that Tatum never told Hollis about the biopsy. Kyle leaves to check on Tatum in the bathroom. Hollis remembers Tatum’s mother, who died of breast cancer. She silently resolves to get Tatum the best care possible if necessary.

Jack gives Hollis his phone number, and although Hollis claims she will be busy, she promises to call Jack. Jack tells Hollis he gave Caroline a ride home from Dylan’s house earlier in the day and that he told Caroline about Hollis’s close relationship with Tom. Tatum and Kyle have a long, passionate goodbye embrace. Tatum tells Hollis she plans on putting a real snake in Irina’s bed if she comes near Kyle. 

Dru-Ann and Tatum bicker the entire ride back to Hollis’s house, arguing about everything from who will ride in the front seat to a mean joke Dru-Ann made at Hollis’s wedding at Tatum’s expense. Tatum feels an overwhelming urge to have Hollis drop her off at home. She insults Brooke’s new skirt, leaving Brooke in a bad mood. Tatum lights a cigarette, and Dru-Ann tells her smoking in a full car is trashy. Tatum, flicking her cigarette away, apologizes to Dru-Ann. Hollis feels urged to protect Tatum but doesn’t want to show favoritism. Gigi is the only person smiling when the women arrive at Hollis’s house, and Hollis feels thankful for her presence.

Caroline naps while the five stars go shopping. She wakes to an empty house, helps herself to breakfast, and sits outside on the bridge overlooking the beautiful backyard pond. She receives a polite text from Sofia and is immediately fearful that Sofia knows about Carolina and Isaac’s affair. Caroline deflects the message from Sofia by claiming to be busy.

Caroline hears the five stars return from their shopping trip. She observes a somber mood among the group, though Hollis reassures Caroline that all is well. Hollis reveals that she ate breakfast with Jack in town and she knows Caroline spent the night with Dylan and rode home with Jack. Caroline accuses Hollis of being fake; she’s meant to spend the weekend with her female friends, but instead, she’s having breakfast with her old boyfriend. Caroline predicts Hollis and Jack will insult Matthew’s memory by reigniting their old romance. Hollis reassures Caroline that she has no intentions of dating Jack again; however, she accepts that the carefully curated content she posts to her blog does not reflect her true identity.

Caroline uses Isaac’s drone to film the five stars lounging on the beach. She attempts to spy on the women without their noticing, but Hollis and Gigi eventually spot the drone and wave. Caroline admits how perfect the weekend appears from a bird’s eye view.

Hollis and Gigi go for a walk on the beach. Acknowledging how risky it must have felt for Gig to attend a girls’ weekend with people she’s never met, Hollis expresses gratitude for Gigi’s presence. Hollis also thanks Gigi for her support after Matthew died. She asks about Gigi’s recently failed romance and intuits that it ended around when Gigi stopped talking with Hollis. Gigi confirms the timing and tells Hollis about her pain in her lover’s absence. Gigi’s cover story slips when she reveals her lover died. Gigi fears Hollis will suspect Matthew was Gigi’s lover, but instead, Hollis feels selfish and guilty for not reciprocating Gigi’s support after Matthew’s death.

Combined with Caroline’s insults and the misconception about Gigi’s loss, Hollis feels like an egotistical fraud. Hollis believes she put an extraordinary effort into creating a gorgeously elaborate weekend for friends who are uncomfortable sharing their hardships with her. Hollis asks for more details about Gigi’s deceased partner, but Gigi lies and says she’s trying to escape from her grief for the weekend. She thanks Hollis for the opportunity to focus on other things briefly. They continue walking, and Gigi cannot believe how close she came to discussing Matthew with Hollis.

Gigi joins Dru-Ann for a swim in the ocean. She confesses to googling Dru-Ann the previous evening and allows Dru-Ann to speak openly about her current dilemma. Dru-Ann tells Gigi about feeling pressured to issue an apology. Gigi posits that it would be very off-brand for Dru-Ann to be cornered into doing something she doesn’t want to do. Dru-Ann feels better after speaking with Gigi.

Hollis serves hearty sandwiches, noodle salad, watermelon slices, and sugar cookies for lunch, all made with fresh, flavorful sauces and ingredients. She takes several pictures of the food on her cell phone, capturing a flattering image of Tatum in her bikini. Tatum sends the photo of herself to Kyle, and the women dig in.

Brooke feels jealous of the one-on-one pairings she witnesses, especially with Gigi, whom she hoped to keep to herself. She attempts to read her beach novel but can’t get past the first paragraph. Brooke tries to avoid the mouthwatering lunch spread but eventually gives in to her hunger and overeats. She fails to read her book again.

Caroline admires the drone footage when she hears a knock at the front door. Charlie, Brooke’s husband, asks to speak with his wife. Caroline can tell Charlie isn’t sober, and although Charlie acts friendly, she senses something off about him.

Dru-Ann retreats to the guest house after the beach. She checks her phone, noticing several messages from her producers, managers, and editors. She discovers a recently posted video of herself from the earlier shopping trip. The video, paired with an accusatory caption, portrays Dru-Ann as insensitive, spoiled, and ungrateful, further tarnishing her reputation. She powers down her phone and resists the urge to flush it down the toilet. Dru-Ann hears a man shouting from Hollis’s driveway, and she heads in that direction to intervene.

Caroline retrieves Hollis and Brooke from the beach, informing them of Charlie’s intoxicated presence. Out front, Charlie begs Brooke to leave the five-star weekend and spend the night with him in an expensive hotel. He tells Brooke that he’s feeling vulnerable. Holding firm, Brooke tells Charlie to cancel the hotel and go home. Charlie then becomes verbally abusive, calling Brooke a “bitch” and attempting to leverage their privileged lifestyle to convince Brooke that she is ungrateful. The abuse nearly breaks Brooke, and she almost leaves with him. She confesses to feeling like a fifth wheel, but Hollis denies that Brooke isn’t a part of the group. Dru-Ann appears, assertively dismissing Charlie. Hollis calls Charlie a cab and asks him to wait at the end of the driveway. Charlie leaves but calls the group of women “Wiccans” on the way out.

Dru-Ann leads Brooke back down to the beach. Hollis feels overwhelmed with the weekend's revelations: Tatum’s biopsy, Gigi’s deceased romantic partner, Dru-Ann’s public relations crisis, and now Brooke’s marital dispute. She catches Caroline leading Tatum to the basement for an interview. Hollis objects, telling Caroline she wants no profoundly personal video content. Caroline insists, and Tatum promises to speak honestly.

Hollis follows a growling Henrietta to the library, where she sees Gigi looking at a series of family pictures. Gigi comments on the artistry of the portraits, telling Hollis how beautiful her family appears in the photos. Hollis recalls relaxing, fun, loving summers on Nantucket with her family, but then she remembers the previous summer when Matthew acted distant and dismissive of family traditions. He made snide, belittling comments about Hungry With Hollis. Hollis doesn’t tell Gigi how angry and resentful she felt toward Matthew in their final family photo of the collection.

Caroline films Tatum while asking questions about Hollis as a teen. Tatum tells Caroline that she and Hollis were as close as sisters from the beginning. Their mothers taught kindergarten together, and Tatum’s mother helped raise Hollis after Hollis’s mother died. All of Tatum’s first memories include Hollis. Tatum, Hollis, Jack, and Kyle were “high school royalty” (231). Hollis helped Tatum through a scary moment when Tatum suspected she was pregnant.

Hollis became fascinated with wealth and privilege when the girls waited tables at an expensive restaurant. Instead of going to the University of Massachusetts with Kyle, Jack, and Tatum as the foursome planned, Hollis received a full scholarship to UNC and changed course. Feeling betrayed, Tatum intentionally threw their state championship softball game because she wanted Hollis to feel as heartbroken as Tatum. Tatum confesses she regrets being a poor sport. Hollis left for college and returned to Nantucket a different person.

Shortly after Tatum’s mother passed away from cancer, Hollis stayed in Chapel Hill for summer break instead of returning to Nantucket as she had in previous years. Feeling failed by her closest friend in a time of need, Tatum grew jealous of Dru-Ann, who claimed more of Hollis’s time and attention. Although the women remained good friends, everything changed again when Matthew proposed to Hollis. Matthew met Tatum and Kyle once before the wedding and showed no interest in getting to know Hollis’s close friends. Tatum felt cast aside when Hollis asked her to share the maid-of-honor role with Dru-Ann. The women drifted further apart during Hollis’s bachelorette party and wedding after Dru-Ann made rude jokes at Tatum’s expense. For her entire life, even in the years after Hollis left Nantucket, Tatum never felt as if she had a best friend.