Spa Weekend

It’s no surprise that madcap vacation comedy Spa Weekend was spawned from the minds of the writing duo behind The Hangover. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore’s film is a revised, feminised take on the aforementioned movie’s crude (and now painfully dated) brand of humour.

Jane (Leslie Mann), Sophie (Anna Faris) and Coco (Michelle Buteau) have been friends since childhood, but the trio have found that work and family commitments now get in the way of quality time together. To remedy this, Coco books an impromptu spa staycation to celebrate Jane’s birthday. But their plans for wellness downtime are thwarted by the arrival of their free-spirited Aussie pal Mel (Isla Fisher), who proceeds to cause chaos, including freeing yoga goats, stealing a golf cart, and telling Jane’s hunky yoga teacher and love interest, Kai (Adam Demos), that she can gauge the size of his appendage.

It’s refreshing to see a film that centres actresses who have been otherwise relegated to the sidelines by an ageist industry. While they all work well together, creating an entirely believable friend group, it’s Fisher who really stands out. She gives a fabulously uninhibited performance, showing her aptitude for both physical comedy and Samantha Jones-style double entendres.

Like Bridesmaids, albeit with the focus on sex comedy rather than gross-out humour, the film at times relies on women acting like piggish men in order to appeal to mainstream moviegoing sensibilities. Instead of the sexist objectification of The Hangover, one has Mel snorting coke off male strippers’ abs and showing off her collection of colourful dildos. She even proclaims “chicks before d***s”, subverting the misogynistic lingo of those dated bro-comedies for a female audience.

There’s much to be said about the effectiveness of gender reversal comedies. But it also must be noted that while the callous disregard for women’s bodies was depicted as paramount to the sustainment of male friendship in The Hangover series, the reversed sexualisation in Spa Weekend serves as little more than background gags. The ties that bind the quartet are ultimately upheld by mutual respect and love, resulting in an uplifting look at the power of female friendship.

Yes, it’s crude and oddly (perhaps jarringly) schmaltzy at times, but Spa Weekend is nonetheless campy feelgood fun. Its message is one that resonates during this bleakest of timelines: we’re all struggling, but isn’t the struggle a little easier with good friends in one’s corner?

Antonia Georgiou

Spa Weekend is released nationwide on 21^st August 2026.

Watch the trailer for Spa Weekend here: