“Spa Weekend,” directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore of “Bad Moms” fame, follows four reunited friends—portrayed by Leslie Mann, Anna Faris, Michelle Buteau, and Isla Fisher—as they embark on a luxury spa getaway. The comedy attempts to satirize the New Age wellness industry and its pretentious appeal, positioning itself within the high-concept comedy genre that relies on outlandish premises and crude humor to generate laughs.
However, the film struggles to deliver genuine comedic moments. The jokes feel tired and formulaic, from a chaotic golf-cart ride through spa grounds to a mud-bath confrontation between a divorced couple. These supposedly “anarchic” scenes come across as predictable and safe rather than genuinely funny. The four main characters are reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes—the control-freak attorney, the perpetually angry divorced mother, the meek assistant, and Fisher’s brash, disheveled troublemaker whom no one likes.
Despite the potential for sharp social commentary on wellness culture’s elitism, the film squanders the opportunity. When Fisher’s character briefly calls out the phony nature of the spa’s treatments, it becomes clear the movie has already exhausted its own premise. Even Fisher’s committed performance as a dissolute narcissist cannot salvage the material, suggesting that the high-concept comedy genre itself may be losing relevance.
Originally reported by Variety →
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