Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau bring strong chemistry to this raunchy friendship comedy, but the thin script rarely lets them shine.
A Great Cast, an Underwhelming Premise
August 24, 2026 – Spa Weekend has the ingredients for a much better comedy than the one that eventually arrives on screen. Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau are all proven comedic performers, and the setup gives them plenty of room for chaos: four longtime friends escape their exhausting daily lives for a luxury wellness retreat, only to discover that relaxation is the last thing they are going to get.
The film comes from Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the writers and directors behind The Hangover and Bad Moms. That pedigree creates a certain expectation, especially for a movie built around adult friendship, bad decisions and escalating comic disasters.
Unfortunately, the script rarely matches the talent in front of the camera. The cast is committed, but too many jokes feel predictable, and the emotional material is often explained rather than earned. The result is a comedy that is pleasant enough to spend time with but rarely as funny or surprising as its premise suggests.
Credit: WireImage
Four Friends With Four Different Problems
The movie centers on Jane, Sophie, Coco and Mel, four women whose friendship stretches back years but whose lives have moved in very different directions.
Mann plays Jane, an overworked lawyer whose professional success has come at a personal cost. Faris plays Sophie, a people-pleaser who has become overwhelmed by the demands of her life. Buteau’s Coco is dealing with a painful divorce and plenty of unresolved anger, while Fisher’s Mel is the unpredictable friend who seems incapable of entering a room quietly or leaving a situation uncomplicated.
The character setup is familiar, but it gives the actors distinct personalities to play with. The problem is that the screenplay often treats those personalities as shortcuts rather than fully developed characters.
Their conflicts are easy to understand, but the film does not always spend enough time showing why these women remain important to one another. That becomes particularly noticeable when the story shifts from comedy into emotional territory.
Isla Fisher Gets the Biggest Comic Opportunities
Fisher is arguably the movie’s most natural weapon. Mel is deliberately excessive, inappropriate and chaotic, and Fisher throws herself into the role with the energy of someone determined to make every ridiculous moment count.
She gets many of the film’s broadest comic sequences, from disrupting wellness activities to triggering increasingly absurd disasters at the resort. Fisher has the timing and physical commitment to make some of these moments work even when the writing is less effective.
The problem is that Mel is written almost entirely as a source of disruption. There are hints of a more complicated backstory and an explanation for why she behaves the way she does, but the movie does not explore those ideas deeply enough.
Fisher occasionally makes Mel feel like a real person hiding behind the chaos. The screenplay rarely gives her enough material to fully develop that possibility.
Leslie Mann Brings the Emotional Center
Mann has a different challenge. Jane is the character most closely connected to the movie’s message about women reaching a point where they need to reassess the way they are living.
She is competent, driven and exhausted, and Mann plays those contradictions convincingly. Her performance works best when Jane is frustrated rather than delivering one of the film’s more obvious inspirational speeches.
The movie wants her to represent the woman who has spent years prioritizing work and other people before finally asking what she actually wants. That is a relatable idea, but the writing repeatedly underlines it instead of trusting the audience to understand.
Mann is appealing enough to make Jane worth following, even when the material around her becomes overly familiar.
Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau Need More
Faris and Buteau are both capable of dominating a comedy with much less material than they receive here, yet Spa Weekend does not give either actress enough consistently sharp writing.
Faris brings genuine warmth to Sophie, whose instinct is always to keep everyone happy. That makes her a useful counterbalance to the more aggressive personalities around her, but the character remains largely defined by her passivity.
Buteau has some of the strongest individual comic moments as Coco, especially when her anger and bluntness collide with the group’s attempts to relax. Her delivery can turn a fairly ordinary line into something much funnier than it looks on the page.
The frustrating part is that both actresses could have carried much bigger storylines. Instead, their strongest moments arrive in pieces scattered through a script that keeps returning to the same broad jokes.
The Wellness Satire Never Goes Far Enough
A luxury spa is an obvious target for comedy. The movie has access to wellness trends, expensive treatments, guided meditation, yoga, self-help language and the culture of turning relaxation into another form of achievement.
There are flashes of good satire, particularly when the women are forced into activities that are supposed to provide peace but instead create more chaos.
Yet the film rarely pushes its observations far enough. It recognizes that some wellness culture can be ridiculous, but mostly settles for making fun of the surface-level absurdity rather than finding sharper commentary underneath.
That keeps the humor accessible, but also makes it less memorable.
The Set Pieces Feel Safer Than They Should
A film like Spa Weekend needs its escalating chaos to feel genuinely wild. Instead, several of the bigger set pieces feel like they were designed to reach a predetermined level of mayhem rather than grow naturally from the characters.
There is a sequence involving goat yoga, an increasingly chaotic situation involving a golf cart and other outrageous incidents that are clearly intended to provide the movie’s biggest laughs.
Some of them are amusing simply because the actors commit so fully. Others feel like comedy leftovers from movies of this type. The result is a strange imbalance: the movie is technically a raunchy adult comedy, but its biggest moments often feel surprisingly tame.
Credit: Black Bear Pictures
The Friendship Story Works Better Than the Gags
Ironically, the strongest part of Spa Weekend is the element that receives the least sophisticated treatment: the friendship itself.
The film understands that longtime friends can become trapped in old versions of one another. They know each other’s histories, weaknesses and habits, but that familiarity can also prevent them from recognizing how much each person has changed.
There is something worthwhile in watching these women confront the difference between who they were when they became friends and who they are now. The idea that adulthood does not have to mean permanently accepting an unsatisfying life is a solid foundation for the story.
The problem is that the film often rushes through those more thoughtful moments to get back to the next gag.
The Direction Keeps Things Moving
Lucas and Moore keep the 97-minute film moving at a reasonable pace. The short runtime means the movie rarely drags, even when individual scenes do not land.
Visually, however, the film feels less distinctive. The luxurious setting provides attractive scenery, but the direction mostly treats it as a backdrop for the characters rather than using the environment creatively.
Some of the editing choices also feel conspicuous, particularly during sequences designed to heighten comic chaos. Rather than making the action feel more energetic, they occasionally make it feel more manufactured.
Does the Comedy Actually Work?
That depends heavily on what you want from the movie. Viewers looking for a light, adult friendship comedy may find enough here to enjoy, particularly because the four leads have obvious chemistry.
Fisher is entertaining, Buteau regularly lands her lines, Mann gives the film an emotional anchor and Faris brings a gentler comic rhythm. Even when the material misses, the performances keep the movie watchable.
But viewers expecting another sharply written comedy from the team behind The Hangover may come away disappointed. The film borrows many familiar ingredients without finding a fresh recipe for them.
Credit: Black Bear Pictures
Final Verdict
Spa Weekend is not a disaster, but it is a frustratingly modest comedy built around a cast that deserves far more. The friendship at its center has genuine potential, and the four leads have enough chemistry to suggest a much better movie hiding inside the concept.
Fisher is the standout when the film embraces its most outrageous side, while Mann gives the story some needed emotional weight. Buteau and Faris also bring clear value, even when the script leaves them underused.
The biggest issue is simply that the movie rarely takes its strongest ideas far enough. It wants to be bawdy, heartfelt and relatable at the same time, but the transitions between those tones can feel manufactured.
FAQs
What is Spa Weekend about?
The film follows four longtime friends who escape to a luxury wellness retreat for a weekend, only for old tensions and unexpected chaos to derail their plans for relaxation.
Who stars in Spa Weekend?
The main cast includes Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau.
Who directed Spa Weekend?
Jon Lucas and Scott Moore directed and wrote the comedy.
Is Spa Weekend actually funny?
The film has some entertaining performances and individual comic moments, particularly from Isla Fisher and Michelle Buteau, but the overall humor is uneven and less effective than the cast suggests.
Is Spa Weekend worth watching?
It may appeal to viewers looking for a light friendship comedy and a talented ensemble, but those expecting sharper writing or consistently strong jokes may find it underwhelming.
Published by HOLR Magazine