Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

Dance music on loop, drugs on tap, smoking hot DJ’s and the other essentials; sun sea and sand…looks like we’re going to Ibiza.

Harper (Gillian Jacobs) is undervalued, overworked and overlooked at her job, but now she has the chance to prove her worth. Trusted to land a potential new client, Harper is sent to Barcelona.

Unwilling to let her go alone, Harper’s best friends Nikki (Vanessa Bayer) and Leah (Phoebe Robinson) tag along for the ride hoping to get in some sun and some men in the Spanish city.

Despite deadlines, the dance floor calls, and a night out on the town has Harper catching the eye of a resident DJ (Richard Madden).

First and foremost, they nailed it with the soundtrack. Granted with a title as obvious as Ibiza, the theme was handed to them on a silver platter, it didn’t make the House, any less fitting to the drama and the romance of the movie.

Who knew House music could be so versatile?

There were a few strong comedic parts to this movie, mostly coming from Dental Hygienist Nikki, played by Vanessa Bayer. She was random, she was ditzy and she was lovable. Though she and Leah where there to add substance rather than story to the movie, I wasn’t mad at their two dimensional characteristics.

We’ve all seen this plot somewhere before; A girl has a moment with a guy and wants the chance at more before time runs out. It’s been done before and it will undoubtedly be done again – but my issue with Ibiza was how clearly events were manufactured to get the story going.

For example; Why was Harper allowed to go to Barcelona to make this big pitch? What’s her seniority? What was her job? Why did she act like she hated her job but then the next second was doing anything to keep it? What sort of freelancer was Leah? Why did they constantly run off with strangers?

All of this and more was slapped over with a massive band aid, and the more the unanswered questions piled up the more annoyed I got.

As I’m sure you could guess from my brief synopsis and the trailer, Ibiza is in no way more than a footnote in a slue of Netflix Originals. But, if its job was to get you in the mood for summer, then in that at least – it succeeded.