Female dominated “Girls Trip” provides both laughs and a compelling storyline. It follows four women, with four very different personalities, who travel together to the Essence Festival, a non-fictional music festival celebrating black people in America.

By maintaining a healthy balance of antics and plot, “Girls Trip” accomplishes what most R-rated comedies cannot.

“Girls Trip’s” humor is neither witty nor complex. However, it had the audience howling with laughter for the movie’s two-hour duration. The physical comedy and insulting quips added to the audience’s enjoyment. Unlike other movies in the same genre, bathroom humor was presented with hilarity, not discomfort. While jokes were not very sophisticated, they still fostered fun and laughter.

In the movie, Ryan Pierce (Regina Hall) is a successful author and the keynote speaker at the Essence Festival in New Orleans. She invites her three best friends, played by Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish, to have a fun-filled get-away before she presents her speech. The posse parties together and has each other’s backs despite various conflicts.

While most women watching this movie don’t have the opportunity to party as hard as the characters, they can still relate to the plot. The moral of the movie is that it is more important to trust and love your friends, not your boyfriends. It passes the Bechdel Test, which requires movies to include a scene where two women talk about something other than a man. It also upholds many modern feminist ideals. Students can enjoy this movie with their friends and can learn to appreciate people in their own life who resemble characters in the movie.

The actors have great chemistry, but the performance is primarily carried by the star of the show, Regina Hall. Friendships and fights seem natural and audiences ache for the characters pain. Ne-Yo and Mariah Carey, as well as many other black artists, make appearances during the festival scenes making it feel more authentic.

“Girls Trip” is often compared to “Rough Night,” another summer movie, because both are R-rated comedies with female led casts. However, the similarities stop there. Although both movies had similar budgets, “Girls Trip” grossed about $60 million more than “Rough Night” worldwide. “Girls Trip” scored 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, while “Rough Night” only received 47 percent.

“Girls Trip” is a hilarious film. Although its humor is raunchy, everyone can find something to enjoy, keeping audiences engaged and entertained throughout.

“Girls Trip”: 4.5/5