Spa Weekend Movie Review: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
Spa Weekend has a fun setup and a genuinely talented group of comedy actors, but the film rarely turns its ideas into moments that actually land as funny. Michelle Buteau stands out from the pack, while the rest of the cast is left fighting a screenplay that feels far too familiar.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 97 minutes
Director: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Cast: Leslie Mann, Anna Faris, Michelle Buteau, Isla Fisher, Adam Demos
There is an easy appeal to the idea behind Spa Weekend. Four old friends, a luxury hotel, expensive wellness treatments, and a long weekend away from everyday responsibilities sound like the perfect setup for a genuinely fun comedy. Throw in Leslie Mann, Anna Faris, Michelle Buteau, and Isla Fisher, and expectations naturally climb even higher.
Unfortunately, the film does not do nearly enough with that promising mix. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the writers behind The Hangover and the directors of Bad Moms, return to familiar ground here with a comedy about friendship, bad decisions, and adults behaving badly. This time around, though, the laughs rarely show up with the energy the film seems to think they deserve.
The story follows Jane, Sophie, Coco, and Mel, four women who have been friends since their younger days. As they have gotten older, work, kids, relationships, and personal baggage have made it harder and harder for them to actually spend time together.
Jane, played by Leslie Mann, is a busy lawyer and single mother so wrapped up in her responsibilities that she has forgotten how to make space for herself. Anna Faris plays Sophie, a sweet, anxious personal assistant who has spent years working under a demanding, difficult boss.
Michelle Buteau plays Coco, a divorced mother working through real anger and frustration after her marriage fell apart. Then there is Mel, played by Isla Fisher, the wildly unpredictable friend who seems to have no filter whatsoever, exactly the kind of person the others would rather not have around during a peaceful spa getaway.
Jane, Sophie, and Coco decide to leave Mel out and enjoy a quiet weekend at a luxury wellness resort instead. Of course, Mel does not stay away for long. Once she turns up, the peaceful holiday quickly spirals into one increasingly chaotic situation after another.
This setup gives the filmmakers plenty of room to work with. The expensive wellness culture, the strange treatments, the over-the-top luxury, and the contrast between the polished resort and these women’s messy real lives could have made for some genuinely sharp satire.
Instead, a lot of the jokes feel predictable. The film keeps reaching for crude humour and physical comedy, but a lot of these scenes feel like they are just waiting for the audience to laugh rather than actually earning that laugh.
Isla Fisher is clearly all in on the wild, unhinged Mel, but even her commitment cannot fully rescue the material. Mel is supposed to be the chaotic force that upends everyone’s lives, but the character often feels more like a grab bag of familiar comedy tropes than a genuinely developed person.
Leslie Mann gets cast as the more sensible one of the group, with her character given a romantic subplot alongside Kai, a handsome yoga instructor played by Adam Demos. Their relationship is meant to nudge Jane toward relaxing and putting herself first for once, but it all feels a bit too convenient to actually land as interesting.
Similar Article: Dial 1975 Review
Anna Faris is another genuinely strong comic performer who ends up with surprisingly little to work with here. Sophie has real potential as a character, but the screenplay just does not give her enough memorable moments to stand alongside everyone else.
The biggest surprise is Michelle Buteau. Coco gets the most believable emotional arc in the entire film, especially once she starts to understand how her anger has affected her relationships. Buteau brings genuine warmth and personality to the role, which makes Coco feel like an actual person rather than a comedy stereotype.
The movie also tries to make a bigger point about self-care. Jane and her friends are all juggling different kinds of pressure, and this spa trip is meant to remind them that looking after themselves is not selfish.
That message is perfectly reasonable on its own, but Spa Weekend never really finds a fresh way to present it. The film sticks closely to the familiar formula of friendship comedies without bringing much that feels genuinely new to the table.
Similar Article: Bethlehem Kudumba Unit Review
Comparisons to The Hangover make sense given Lucas and Moore’s history with that film’s success. That said, Spa Weekend just does not carry the same comic momentum or sense of surprise. Its wildest moments often feel carefully engineered rather than genuinely chaotic.
In the end, Spa Weekend is not a total disaster. The cast is likeable, the setting looks great, and there are occasional genuinely funny moments scattered throughout. But a comedy needs more than a talented cast and a good premise to really work.
Spa Weekend ultimately feels like a missed opportunity. Michelle Buteau leaves the strongest impression, while Mann, Faris, and Fisher all do their best with fairly uneven material. The film clearly wants to be a funny, warm, slightly outrageous story about friendship and self-care, but it ends up feeling safe, predictable, and honestly, a bit forgettable.