This film is not The Hangover Part… who really cares at this point?

Inside Spa Weekend is something really lovely. Aligning it as a female rendition of The Hangover does the film a disservice, particularly in a slightly misleading trailer clearly put together for maximum appeal. Once the film breaks free from those parameters, Jon Lucas, Scott Moore, and leads Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Michelle Buteau and Anna Faris create something far more interesting.

It looks like Mann, Fisher, Buteau and Faris had a blast making this film. There’s something about their dynamic that can be replicated on film, but you can often sense, even in the smallest moments, when the chemistry isn’t genuine. Their laughter is infectious, and the best moments are when it’s just them arsing about.

All of the tropes are there: bad drunks, work getting in the way, and relationship woes. The only thing that’s missing is a wedding party. But the leads are so compelling underneath the typical comedy that you can almost forgive this. I’m not easily won over, but I enjoyed spending time with these people.

Here, their flaws belong to the characters rather than simply servicing the comedy.

Life doesn’t stop for friendship. Adulthood is the mother of all bugger ups, isn’t it? At the heart of this story is a group of gals forcing life to stop for a moment, and none of them really quite know what to do with that.

When they arrive at the spa, they’re playing at being women who have their lives together, if only long enough to enjoy a lovely weekend. Then Mel turns up, exactly as she is and largely uninvited, and challenges the whole illusion.

And this becomes the heart of the film. Really, it’s quite lovely.

Even when the film enters full-on Hangover territory, as with the golf caddy crash, there’s something so endearing and sincere in the leads’ performances that manages to snatch the film back from the jaws of absurd insanity. It’s their connection and the humanity behind the chaos that kept me sat in that seat.

I wish the film established itself properly from the beginning, though I do see that this might ultimately be what makes the end so rewarding. It presents itself as two films jousting against one another, and I can’t help thinking there were funnier jokes, richer physical comedy and stronger character flourishes to be found.

I left wanting more time with the Spa Weekend girlies, which unusually means I genuinely wouldn’t mind a sequel, were there a natural next chapter for these women.

We’ve seen the girls at their worst, and they appear to have buried the hatchet. What comes next is far more interesting than the next big event. There could be a temptation to go with a baby shower, wedding or Lord only knows what. But what if we now get glimpses into their individual lives as they try to keep that connection alive and thriving?

There’s something special here.