The Wedding Banquet (dir. Andrew Ahn)
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 103 mins
UK Distributor: Universal Pictures
UK Release Date: 9 May 2025
WHO’S IN THE WEDDING BANQUET?
Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, Youn Yuh-jung
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Andrew Ahn (director, writer), James Schamus (writer, producer), Caroline Clark, Anita Gou and Joe Pirro (producers), Jay Wadley (composer), Ki Jin Kin (cinematographer), Geraud Brisson (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Two gay couples agree to a marriage of convenience…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THE WEDDING BANQUET?
Though it is regarded as a pioneer of the New Queer Cinema movement of the 1990s, director Ang Lee’s LGBTQIA+ romantic-comedy The Wedding Banquet is certainly due for an update. With a plot straight out of a 90s-era sitcom, featuring moments of cultural differences that are rather alarming by modern standards, the movie probably isn’t a suitable fit for today’s slightly more accepting times, which is saying something because it is generally accepted as a good movie, even scoring an Oscar nomination for the then-named Best Foreign Language Film category.
Thankfully, director and co-writer Andrew Ahn – previously of Disney+’s Pride & Prejudice-inspired Fire Island – knows exactly how to take this material and give it an all-new lease of life in the current age of queer cinema. His take on The Wedding Banquet isn’t so much a remake as it is a complete reimagining, one that adds more depth to the drama, the characters, the themes and beyond while also retaining the basic components of the original. It is also, quite frankly, a truly charming piece of work that might even out-do the version by the Oscar-winning filmmaker.
Ahn’s film focuses on two couples – Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Lee (Lily Gladstone), and Chris (Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-chan) – who live together and are generally happy with their respective partners. But that isn’t to say they aren’t experiencing any problems, for Lee is struggling to conceive a child via IVF, something that Angela isn’t completely on-board with, while Chris is struggling with his commitment issues as Min keeps his gay identity hidden from his wealthy Korean grandmother, Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung). However, when Min learns that Ja-Young wishes for him to return home to take over his family’s company, he makes an unsuccessful proposal to Chris, and then offers a slightly different proposal to Angela: if she agrees to marry him so he may obtain his green card, he will help fund her and Lee’s pricey IVF treatments. But their plans for a swift courthouse marriage are interrupted by Ja-Young’s impromptu arrival, and her insistence on a full-blown Korean wedding ceremony.
Like the original film, the plot certainly sounds pretty sitcom-y on paper, but Ahn’s version opts for a much more character-centric approach that gives it an extra few layers of sincerity. Each member of the central quartet comes with their own complications and heavy baggage, such as the fact that two of them had previously hooked up in college before coming out, while one is the heir of a multinational conglomerate whose patriarch is outspokenly homophobic, and while these may not necessarily be relatable struggles, their empathy and genuine chemistry with one another certainly is, which makes it easier to emotionally connect with them. The performances certainly help, with winning turns from the lead quartet each lending their characters plenty of charm and spirit (Kelly Marie Tran and Bowen Yang in particular are outstanding, with the SNL breakout doing well in a more dramatic role than usual), and there are some impactful turns from the older members of the ensemble, including Oscar-winner Youn Yuh-jung and Joan Chen of last year’s Dìdi, here playing a mother trying way too hard to project her allyship of the gay community her daughter Angela belongs to.
The strong focus on character gives this version of The Wedding Banquet a greater sense of dramatic depth that, while not phenomenally complex, is undeniably effective. The enjoyment you get from seeing these people interact with one another slowly morphs into something more genuine, because Ahn and co-writer James Schamus (who also worked on the original 1993 screenplay) bring so much heart and warmth to the ways in which they deal with their issues that it’s hard not to feel something as things become emotionally tougher for them. Its sincerity is tangible as the film’s writing lends a pure perspective to events, even ones that are much more outlandishly comedic like a vomit scene that does actually serve a dramatic purpose instead of just being there for shock value, while Ahn’s meaningful direction allows his actors plenty of room to develop and nurture their parts in ways that benefit the overall themes and messages of the narrative.
Inevitable rom-com plot beats like the third-act breakup and the extravagant reunion are given their dues and executed accordingly, but once again the key is in the sincerity of it all, as Ahn manages to make such moments feel all the more powerful as you are always on the side of these characters while fully understanding why certain things have to happen. That alone makes this take on The Wedding Banquet more fitting for these modern times than Ang Lee’s original, for beyond some of its dated concepts and ideas, the 1993 film is a bit more traditional in its plotting while keeping the drama to a contained minimum, whereas this one takes a few more risks in its storytelling while not being too afraid to embrace how far the LGBTQIA+ community has come in the last thirty-plus years.
As a radical reinvention, it’s profound and comes with plenty of heart, all without completely ignoring what came before (a scene in which the main characters scramble to remove anything remotely gay in their house is kept intact, albeit with added glimpses of Portrait of a Lady on Fire and The Half of It among their DVD collection), making it a revamp that arguably does more than even Ang Lee could do all those years ago.
SO, TO SUM UP…
The Wedding Banquet is a charming reimagining of the 1993 Ang Lee romantic-comedy which sees director and co-writer Andrew Ahn bring plenty of sincerity and character-centric drama to the slightly formulaic mix that gives it greater dramatic depth and modern-day resonance than even the original film.
Enjoyed our review? Hear more from the filmmaker himself in our exclusive interview with Andrew Ahn!
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