The Wasteland Reviewer

Spa Weekend (2026) Written Review

Are you tired, overworked, and in serious need of a break? That is the core concept of the new late summer comedy coming to theaters, Spa Weekend. Three childhood friends head off for a, you guessed it, spa weekend which is crashed by their unhinged and uninvited friend. Things will certainly start relaxing but inevitably will go off the rails for the audience’s benefit. You have got a quartet of Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Michelle Buteau, and Anna Faris so you have plenty of potential for laughs. Time to see if this vacation is a fun time or just a train wreck. 

How do Jon Lucas and Scott Moore bring this vacation story to life on screen? Generally, most audiences are not expecting top notch filmmaking when going into a comedy. But Spa Weekend even misses that low of a bar. This is a genuinely ugly looking film. There are certain scenes where the color grading is so flat and ugly that it is distracting. There are moments with fake background that look so artificial. There are few moments that look engaging and even those look more like a commercial than watching a film. One positive thing about the film is that Lucas and Moore keep up the pace, making this a high energy experience that doesn’t let up. Tonally, the film is a bit of a mess. Overall, this is a silly and over-the-top film. Even some of the more “serious” moments have a sense of camp but a few of those scenes feels ripped from the most melodramatic soap opera (the music certainly reinforces that tone too). The film is also never as funny as it thinks it is. Sure, there are moments that land a hearty laugh but there are other moments that just feel so awkward and weird. 

Does the writing by Lucas and Moore improve the experience? There is just something off about this whole experience. There are certainly some gags and jokes that land with a good laugh but so much of the writing feels awkward and unfunny. Not that only women can write for female characters but there just seems to be a lack of understanding of female friend dynamics and their motivations. All the storylines in the film feel shallow or too convenient to capture the truly complex themes this film is navigating. First off, Leslie Mann’s Jane is a workaholic lawyer with kids at home, but the film does nothing to make these children feel meaningful in her life at all. The budding romance with the sexy Australian yoga instructor also feels so frustrating because it has zero conflict until the film conveniently needs it to so Jane makes a decision, which feels out of left field, so the film might have conflict. Supposedly Anna Faris’ Sophie has a whole family at home, but they are never once shown in the whole entire film making her come off as a terrible mother and wife when her whole narrative becomes about overcoming her man-child boss. Michelle Buteau’s Coco must navigate a fresh divorce from her husband, but this husband feels more like a narrative device and drama mill who only makes decisions to create laughs or drama. This undercuts a real and challenging situation that many people could relate to. Isla Fisher’s Mel is a blandly written caricature whose “twist” you can see coming a mile away and leads to an uncomfortable thematic climax that basically condones toxic friends. This whole film feels like a retread of so many other movies without finding its own identity who a consistently funny sense of humor. 

How does the cast manage in the film? There are found extremely talent women leading this film and they desperately try to make this film work. Mann is charming and has the presence to take center stage. She makes Jane generally likeable and has a much more nuanced and subtle sense of humor compared to the others. Faris is a bit disappointing as her whole performance is a one-note ditsy blonde character who is absent minded and aloof. That is all she is saddled with from the script, but Faris’ performance still feels artificial. Buteau’s Coco swings wildly with her emotions so the performance feels so inconsistent and erratic. Buteau has charisma to spare so she makes it work but it does feel like a performance out of a melodramatic soap opera instead of a romantic comedy. Buteau and Fisher are comedic forces and they deliver most of the laughs out of sheer power of will. Fisher’s performance is the right amount of bonkers and unleashed as she fully commits to this roguish Australian character with quite the vulgar personality. You would be hard-pressed to find any other performances in this film though that don’t feel undercooked and one-note. 

Does Spa Weekend at least deliver a fun trip to the movies? Unfortunately, it is nowhere near funny enough to even warrant that distinction. Buteau and Fisher deliver a peppering of laughter but that is not enough to overcome the terrible writing. All the themes are so muddled and misguided that the film fails at the few meaningful elements that it is attempting to deliver. Not even a quartet of truly funny women is enough to make a “girls’ trip” comedy work.