‘Ibiza’ Review (Netflix Original)

Stars: Gillian Jacobs, Michaela Watkins, Vanessa Bayer, Richard Madden, Gwen Elizabeth Duchon, Phoebe Robinson, Félix Gómez, Tea Vracic, Bojan Ban, Tara Thaller, Marko Paradzik, Ivan Devcic, Jordi Molla, Bozena Bilanovic, Coco Bolleboom | Written by Lauryn Kahn | Directed by Alex Richanbach

Meet Harper: She’s a single thirtysomething New Yorker with awesome friends she loves and a dead-end job she hates. So when her controlling, condescending, germophobic nightmare of a boss sends her on a business trip to Barcelona, Harper jumps at the chance to shake up her routine. Flanked by her two best pals, Harper lets loose in the land of Sangria, where a bit of surprising body graffiti leads to a flirty encounter with a famous DJ.

Alex Richanbach’s Ibiza, one of many latest releases from Netflix is your predictable, clingy and anecdotal/raunchy party monster comedy, albeit with a progressive and redeeming twist of following three women, instead of the constant barrage of male-led teenage comedies of unresolved and morally complicated actions played for laughs. Thankfully, Ibiza, in the same vein as Feig’s highly acclaimed Bridesmaids, is a true breath of fresh air in the closed vacuum of originality.

The film is headlined by Gillian Jacobs and supported with Vanessa Bayer, Michaela Watkins and Game of Thrones alumni Richard Madden. The central three all have a great deal of charismatic companionship and revel in the excitement of absurdity but Ibiza doesn’t overly push the boundaries of its predictable genre, what it does is express itself in its own virtues of well-written women and a rich feminist output.

Ibiza is perhaps ten minutes too long and unfortunately, in certain parts, drags in to moments of cliche, ultimately stumbling in the longevity of its humour… which isn’t necessarily poor but verges on the threat of repetition multiple times.

Ibiza is available on Netflix now.