Director: Andrew Ahn
Writers: Andrew Ahn, James Schamus
Stars: Joan Chen, Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone
Synopsis: A gay man makes a deal with his lesbian friend: a green-card marriage for him, in exchange for in vitro fertilization treatments for her. Plans evolve as Min’s grandmother surprises them with a Korean wedding banquet.
It can often be worrisome news when it’s announced that an exciting indie director takes on a big blockbuster or remake as their sophomore project. To lose fresh and vital voices of cinema to the machines of cinematic universes is rarely something to cheer on. There are success stories of course. Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters is one of the more recent examples. Now, another Sundance alum can be added to that list. With The Wedding Banquet, Andrew Ahn provides a much-needed update and delightfully modern spin to the 1993 Ang Lee film of the same name. It’s a faithful remake but isn’t afraid to take liberties as far as shifting the narrative or tone goes. The original film is one that’s both very well-made and quite enjoyable. Ahn’s version takes a solid foundation and improves upon it in a very beautiful way. With his second film, Ahn is showing himself to be a filmmaker who isn’t interested in showing his audience somebody who’s perfect. He’s far more intrigued in depicting people that feel inadequate. And this makes for films that are far more compelling.
Practically every character in The Wedding Banquet grapples with a sense of failure in some way. For some, it takes the form of inadequacy. Chris (Bowen Yang) is afraid to marry his long time boyfriend, Min (Han Gi-chan), as he’s worried Min will be throwing away his career and large inheritance for a mistake. For Angela (Kelly Marie Tran), she’s frightened at the thought of being a mother and messing up the life of her child. Min grapples with the idea that he isn’t allowed to be his true self in front of his grandparents out of worry they’ll be disappointed in him. These are all fairly standard dramatic plot points, but Ahn captures them so tenderly that The Wedding Banquet will capture your heart and not let go until you start to cry. But the film isn’t all drama and reckoning with sadness and familial trauma! In fact, Ahn’s film is often quite lively and full of fun.
The film begins with a lively gala full of dancing, celebration, and live music. Somebody describes Joan Chen dancing on stage as giving mother (Twin Peaks fans are eating incredibly well). For Angela and her partner, Lee (Lily Gladstone), it’s a comically awkward event amongst family members bragging and intruding on personal news. It’s all quite relatable, and that’s even before we meet Chris who is suffering from social anxiety at a party where he knows one other person. Very quickly, Ahn makes each of the central characters so deeply relatable that his viewers will gladly latch onto all of them. We learn that Lee has received a second round of IVF, and this tight-knit group are celebrating the prospect of being one big, happy extended family. It’s a breezy introduction that’s fueled by the clear love these individuals share for one another. They all radiate such joy not only amongst their significant others, but as the true friends they all appear to be. But with enjoying their joys also comes enduring their struggles.
Ahn’s film has pivoted quite a bit from the original in that it appears far more interested in the in-between moments of his character’s lives. So much of the narrative and the humor of the original is in service of building to the wonderful sequence from which the film derives its name. But in this update, we’re given so much opportunity to spend time with these partners and these friends in the quiet moments of their lives. Ahn delves into their worries, their insecurities, their delights, their love. And if anything stands out most, it’s just how beautifully Ahn captures the feeling of love. He has such a warm eye for imagery that reveals itself all throughout The Wedding Banquet. It can be felt in the way Marie Tran looks out the window at Gladstone tending to her garden. It can be felt in the way Yang and Gi-chan playfully come together during their morning routine. It’s just so full of warmth. What makes him equally impressive as a filmmaker is his ability to capture the reverse of this.
Ahn captures pain in ways that sneak up on the viewer. After seeing so much love on screen, it’s heartbreaking when he reveals the antithesis of his previous compositions. In the most conflict-ridden moments of the film, Ahn focuses on the items that once represented such peace and joy in this home. One sequence in particular doesn’t even have any of the characters present, but we can feel the sadness and lack of joy in our core. It’s poetic composition that’s showing and trusting the viewers to intuit using their own emotional intelligence. It’s instances like these which show Ahn is far more interested in the emotional dynamics of this premise, knowing that they are likely relatable across audiences anywhere. But again, that’s not to say The Wedding Banquet isn’t full of fun moments too.
In this film, the curveballs life throws our way are best solved with screwball antics. And so, Ahn delivers several set pieces that just have joke after joke land. The titular banquet itself is an absolute blast and makes for a wonderful crescendo. But even here, Ahn cleverly sneaks the entire crux of his film into a joke. The Wedding Banquet is ultimately about the massive burden familial expectations place on us. In our journeys to become individual people, that burden rears its head in frustrating ways. The irony is, as depicted in one joke during the wedding, we can strive to follow certain traditions and remain rigid to them, all while forgetting their meanings entirely. In the end, perhaps it’s sometimes best to leave traditions and expectations in the past. It’s only after that that we can allow ourselves to live life the way we both desire and deserve to. Whether it’s with actual family coming to terms of who we are or the family we find along the way, all of us are made stronger by the love shared with others. Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet is many things. But perhaps above all else, it’s a heartwarming reminder that we all deserve lives full of complete love.
The Wedding Banquet is celebrating its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in the Premieres category.
