Film Review – The Wedding Banquet

April 17th, 2025 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

On paper, The Wedding Banquet (2025) has all the makings of a classic screwball comedy. You have characters engaged in a silly plot that involves deception, hijinks, and plenty of awkward situations. Things get progressively more complicated, even if it could all be resolved if everyone were just honest with each other. On the surface, the twists and turns feel familiar. But in the hands of director Andrew Ahn, this is much more emotionally resonant than we might expect. Yes, there are plenty of laughs, but there is also a level of deep feeling where characters’ thoughts, beliefs, and expectations are redefined as they grow. This is just a lovely movie, with so much heart and sincerity that we can’t help but want the best for everyone we meet.

Working with co-writer James Schamus, Ahn reimagines Ang Lee’s 1993 film of the same name (also co-written by Schamus), transporting the location to Seattle, WA and giving the material a 21^st century makeover. We meet four people: Chris (Bowen Yang), Lee (Lily Gladstone), Angela (Kelly Marie Tran), and Min (Han Gi-Chan). Lee and Angela are a couple looking to get pregnant through IVF, but the expense and physical toll it puts on Lee has caused unspoken tension. Chris and Min are also together, with Min wanting to take their relationship to the next step but Chris’ indecisiveness proving a difficult obstacle. Things get tricky when Min’s grandmother, Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung) orders him to return to South Korea to take over the family business. In an act of desperation, the four come up with a bonkers scheme: Min and Angela will get married. By doing so, Min will be able to stay in America. In return, he will provide money to help Lee and Angela’s IVF treatments.  

This plan brings up – obviously – a bunch of problems. One of the film’s biggest strengths is how the screenplay weaves all these various threads together without making it convoluted. The fashion in which each character’s stories develop feels natural and organic. Min wants to marry Chris but knows that if his family were to find out he was gay, he could be stripped of his inheritance and brought back home at a moment’s notice. For Chris, his commitment issues stem from his concern that he is not good enough to be happy – even though he clearly shows good qualities as a partner. Angela’s rocky relationship with her overbearing mother (Joan Chen) casts a shadow over her willingness to have a child with Lee. And while Lee maybe the most underwritten character, Lily Gladstone more than makes up for it with yet another grounded, moving performance. We can see how much she wants to have a family, and how much Angela’s hesitation affects her.

These are a lot of moving parts, but under Ahn’s direction, the narrative never loses its focus. Themes of being a minority, an immigrant, gay, generational conflict, tradition versus progression, and the definition of “family” are all on display with crystal clear precision. Ahn’s direction leaves room for more over the top, comedic sequences, but he is at his best when he zeroes in on his characters and allows them to bear their souls. When things slowdown is when The Wedding Banquet operates at its highest level. Just as he did with Driveways (2019), Ahn structures sequences of quiet reflection and contemplation. He gives characters time to just sit down and think, placing their faces in closeup so we can see every little nuance of their thought process. 

This is no better exemplified than with Youn Yuh-jung. Of the entire cast, Youn proves – as she did with her Oscar winning performance in Minari (2020) – that she is a master of showing us her character’s deepest feelings without ever having to tell us. In a lesser film, a character like Ja-Young would be portrayed as a stereotype of older Asian women: stern, demanding, unsympathetic, cold, etc. When she first showed up on screen, she risked falling into those tropes. But the more we learn of her, the more we understand her humanity. Youn’s performance is made of several reactionary moments. She sees the life Min has built for himself and tries to understand a culture separate from her own. Through the use of her face, we can see the wheels spinning: how she isn’t looking to dismiss everything but to find avenues to connect to her grandson. One of the funnier interactions has Youn asking Min questions about everyone’s behavior – whether it’s just how Americans act normally or if everyone is crazy.

For as well made as the film is, it is not without its hiccups. Specifically, one revelation – involving the consequences of an all-night party – seems far-fetched. Granted, a story about two gay couples forging a pretend straight marriage will require some escape from reality. But this plot point (which I will not describe) is too shoehorned in to be justified. It doesn’t feel like a natural occurrence based on character development, but more like the result of the screenplay finding a reason to add additional problems for our protagonists. Even more egregious is how the narrative completely dismisses the issue, instead settling for a neat and tidy ending where all the loose ends are wrapped up into a nice bow. As we all know, life doesn’t always provide us with answers, sometimes things can be left messy and unresolved. I think The Wedding Banquet ends a little too perfectly for my taste.

Still, I really liked what Andrew Ahn and the rest of the production accomplished here. For whatever shortcomings there maybe, Ahn answers with warmth and tenderness. There are no bad guys, just people trying to navigate their lives as best they can. They make mistakes, and that’s ok. The Wedding Banquet takes a specific section of society and examines the fears and desires of those within that community, creating something that feels fresh, alive, and universal.

Andrew Ahn, Ang Lee, Bowen Yang, Driveways, Featured, Han Gi-Chan, James Schamus, Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Gladstone, Minari, The Wedding Banquet, Youn Yuh-jung