Queerguru reviews ‘THE WEDDING BANQUET’ a superb new rom-com from Andrew Ahn destined to be the queer hit film of the summer

In the past decade, the American queer filmmaker Andrew Ahn has helmed four compelling movies which have focused on both intergenerational relationships and also on how the impact of queer lives on others has developed. In each of these, there is such an authenticity that makes Ahn one of the best observers of contemporary gay lives and one who is making such a contribution to the canon of queer cinema.

His latest film ‘The Wedding Banquet’ is inspired by Ang Lee’s Oscar-nominated film of the same name from 1992…. the main differences are that he was still in the middle of the AIDS pandemic and that also same-sex marriages had not been legalized yet. The one thing that both movies share is the fact they were both co-written by James Shamus.

The setting is Seattle, where lesbian couple Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Lee (Lily Gladstone), desperate to start a family,  have just discovered that their latest IVF treatment has not worked, and they have run out of money,  and time as Angela’s biological clock is tacking away.  Their house mates, Chris (Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-Chan), also their best friends, are in living in their garage, and are also at a crossroads in their relationship. Chris feels he is not ready to accept Min’s marriage proposal  even though he loves hm and it would help him secure a green card.  On the other hand if Min’s family in Korea discovers he’s gay, he’ll be disinherited from the vast family fortune.

So they (or rather Min) comes up with a plan. He will marry Lee and get a green card and in return wil pay for another very expensive IVF treatment for the girls.  On paper it seems like a good plan until Mins grandmother announces will fly in from Korea for the wedding which insists will be a elaborate grand Korean one. 

There are some very neat and unexpected plot twists which have you reaching for another box of tissus and tiome, or just bawling with laughter.  No spoilers here here : just go see.  What we can tell you that is we give kudos to Ahn for some inspirinbg casting.  Not just only for his favorite Bowen Yang  who’s starred in Ahn’s last three films, but also for giving a much softer role than usual to Lily Gladstone who was last on our screen in Martin Scorsese‘s 2023 feature film Killers of the Flower Moon.  But for scene-stealing it was the remarkable Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung as Grandmother and the equally fabulous multi-award winning Joan Chen playing Angelas’ mother.

Back in 2022 Ahn’s romantic comedy FIRE ISLAND became the queer hit of the summer, we can confidently predict, that so will THE WEDDING BANQUET be all this summer long.

Review by ROGER WALKER-DACK.

Creator, Owner, Editor-in-Chief.  Miami Beach, FL / Provincetown, MA

Member of G.A.L.E.C.A. (Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association) and NLGJA The Association of LGBT Journalists. and The Online Film Critics Society. Ex Contributing Editor The Gay Uk & Contributor Edge Media Former CEO and Menswear Designer of  Roger Dack Ltd in the UK ‘one of the hardest-working journalists in the business‘ Micheal Goff of Towleroad