‘Spa Weekend’ Review: Leslie Mann and Isla Fisher in a High-Concept Comedy Without the Comic Highs
"Spa Weekend" reunites four women for a deluxe spa getaway, with the film positioning itself as a satirical take on elite wellness culture and New Age pretension. The premise carries potential for sharp social commentary, exploring how luxury spas transform pampering into performative experiences.
The execution, however, relies on predictable set pieces—rogue golf carts, mud-bath confrontations, chaotic goat yoga—that aim for anarchic humour but land as formulaic and safe. The four leads function as archetypal personalities rather than fully realised characters, played with adequate charm but little substance. The review suggests this particular comedic formula, where the concept drives everything and nuance takes a backseat, may be approaching creative exhaustion.
- High-concept spa comedy directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore ('Bad Moms') stars Leslie Mann, Anna Faris, Michelle Buteau, and Isla Fisher
- Critic finds the satire of New Age wellness culture undermined by predictable gags, cardboard-cutout characters, and formulas that feel simultaneously chaotic and tame
- Review suggests the high-concept comedy genre—defined by obvious titles and broad, raucous humour—is losing momentum and originality
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Spa Weekend brings together four women, played by an ensemble including Leslie Mann and Isla Fisher, for a getaway at a luxury spa. It's a comedy that sets out to poke fun at wellness culture, the kind of pampered retreats built around mindfulness, mud baths and expensive self-care rituals that have become common among the wealthy.
The film belongs to a familiar genre: the high-concept ensemble comedy, where a group of established comic actors are thrown into an absurd setting and the humour is meant to come from the situation itself. This approach has produced hits in the past, but relies heavily on sharp writing and strong character work to succeed rather than the premise alone.
This particular release is being viewed partly as a test of whether that comedic formula still has life left in it, at a time when critics and audiences have grown more familiar with, and more demanding of, this type of film.