Spa Weekend’ Review: Leslie Mann and Isla Fisher Go Underserved in a Lukewarm Bath of a Comedy

Arriving in theaters on August 21, the comedy Spa Weekend pairs a veteran cast including Leslie Mann and Isla Fisher with writer-directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The R-rated farce follows four lifelong friends attempting to unwind at a resort, colliding with real-world animal actors and familiar comedic hijinks along the way.

When an overscheduled Los Angeles lawyer named Jane books a two-night wellness retreat for her childhood best friends, the promise of tranquility lasts precisely as long as it takes for their chaotic fourth wheel to arrive. Released on Friday, August 21, Spa Weekend reunites filmmakers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the minds behind The Hangover and Bad Moms, for another exploration of adult female friendship under stress.

Alongside Leslie Mann’s tightly wound Jane, the ensemble features Anna Faris as the people-pleasing Sophie and Michelle Buteau as the hot-tempered, recently divorced Coco. The quartet is completed by Isla Fisher’s Mel, an uninvited chaos agent whose luggage spills over with dildos and whose mouth operates entirely without a filter.

St. Pete Pier Summer Wellness Event: Pilates, DJs & Cold Plunges at Spa Beach

From Goat Yoga to On-Set Hazards with Full-Grown Animals

Not all of the film’s challenges came from the scripted friction between characters. During a pivotal wellness retreat sequence involving a goat yoga class, the actors found themselves working with live, unpredictable animals rather than computer-generated effects. Producer Suzanne Todd admitted that initial expectations for the scene proved overly optimistic.

Isla Fisher noted at the film’s world premiere at Fontainebleau Las Vegas that the goats were pooping and peeing and screaming, making the day particularly taxing. Leslie Mann bore the physical brunt of the unscripted animal enthusiasm while clad only in yoga attire, sustaining scratches and bruises across her bare back. Co-director Scott Moore praised Mann’s resilience during the shoot, noting that Leslie did not complain.

Critical Reception and Geographic Disconnects

While the cast throws themselves into physical comedy involving male strippers, cocaine-fueled parties, and wild golf cart chases, reviewers have pointed out structural shortcomings in the 1-hour, 37-minute runtime. Critics note that the film’s geography feels decidedly unlocal to Los Angeles, utilizing stock traffic footage and winding wooded roads that eventually open onto tropical Queensland, Australia, where the production was actually filmed.

Beyond the scenery, reviewers have observed that the central characters’ motivations remain largely tethered to their relationships with men—whether Jane lusting after a yoga instructor played by Adam Demos, Coco raging at her ex-husband Roger, or Sophie buckling under a toxic boss. Yet amidst formulaic gags and heavy-handed moral speeches about self-care, Fisher’s character emerges as a disruptive force who completely bypasses polite society’s expectations.

Insidious: Out of the Further Pulls in $3M in Thursday Night Previews

Decades of Physical Comedy and Unsedated Animal Castmates

The physical toll of making Spa Weekend sparked conversations among the cast regarding their long careers in cinematic comedy. Anna Faris recalled surviving grueling conditions on early genre spoofs, while Leslie Mann stunned her co-stars by sharing a recollection from her early work on the 1997 film George of the Jungle.

Photo: azcentral.com

Mann recounted an unscripted close encounter with an entirely unsedated lion on that set, noting that the animal could easily reach her before the handler could intervene. That history of hazard-filled comedy highlights a career spent accommodating unpredictable co-stars—whether a restless big cat in the 1990s or oversized, full-grown farm animals in the current release.