Joy Ride

In cinemas now

This riotous directorial debut from Adele Lim, the writer of Crazy Rich Asians fame, works on a number of levels. Co-written by Lim, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, and Teresa Hsiao, Joy Ride is a highly entertaining and heartwarming tale of friendship that provides a welcome platform for its four outstanding leads (Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu).

In a manner not dissimilar to Bridesmaids, the film manages to blend explicit humour (emphasis on explicit) with motifs that are altogether more serious. With regards to the latter, perhaps the most interesting of these is the arc of Ashley Park’s character, an adopted Asian-American who decides to use a business trip to China (one that soon becomes very much a debauched girls’ trip) as an opportunity to find her biological parents. This quest evokes memories of altogether more serious works such as Return to Seoul, but never detracts from the undercurrent of fun that runs through Lim’s picture.

Above all else though, Joy Ride is a stellar reminder of the importance of representation in mainstream cinema. This is a comedy helmed by a predominantly Asian-American cast and writing team and, while it’s depressing that we still have to view these things as novelties in 2023, the importance of that cannot be understated. Park, Cola, Hsu, and Wu prove that they can be every bit as funny as their Caucasian contemporaries, serving up one of the year’s biggest laugh-out-loud moments while doing so.