Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet was surprisingly progressive for 1993 when being gay was typically treated as a bad punchline.  The American remake might not be as groundbreaking, but director Andrew Ahn (Spa Night, Fire Island) cleverly adapts the material for 2025 audiences. Much has changed in the past 32 years, although some things sadly remain the same. Even in the supposed free world, many LGBTQ+ people are compelled to hide who they are from their families. If your biological family doesn’t accept you, anyone can form a found family. Of course, found families can also come with emotional baggage.
Although Kelly Marie Tran is only given third billing, she’s at the heart of The Wedding Banquet. Best known for playing Rose in The Last Jedi, Tran deserved much better from the Star Wars community. Funnily enough, Tran is compared to a character from The Phantom Menace here. She gives her best performance to date as Angela, who’s trying to have a baby with her partner Lee (Lily Gladstone). Angela has a complicated relationship with her mother (Joan Chen), a gay rights activist trying to compensate for not being more understanding when her daughter came out. As strained as their relationship is, it isn’t nearly as tense as the dynamic between Han Gi-chan’s Min and his grandma Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung).
Min is living in the U.S. on a green card, but he risks being cut off financially if he doesn’t return home and take over the family business. In hopes of staying, Min proposes to his boyfriend Chris (Bowen Yang), who doesn’t want a green card to instigate their marriage. Lee thus has a proposal for Min, suggesting that he marry Angela for the green card. In exchange, Min will pay for their IVF treatments. It’s a solid plan until Grandma shows up unexpectedly.
When Youn Yuh-jung’s character first appears on screen, the audience thinks they know exactly what her arc will be. Yet, she subverts expectations, as does the film, which doesn’t follow the formula we’re so used to. The Wedding Banquet respects its characters too much to subject them to a cliched plot. What easily could’ve deteriorated into something out of a sitcom or cheap melodrama winds up being a funny, honest, and moving exploration of family – both found and biological. Youn brings surprising depth to her performance, reminding us why she deservingly won an Oscar for Minari.
The entire cast is wonderful. Yang has primarily been typecast as the best friend, which technically plays here too. Yet, Yang also demonstrates genuine vulnerability and dramatic range, proving there’s more to him than being the comedic relief. Han Gi-chan gives a heartfelt breakthrough performance in his film debut while Lily Gladstone continues her marathon of excellent work. Along with Tran, these four create such a sincere bond that even when something threatens to tear this found family apart, we believe they can work past it. Just as love comes in many different shapes, the same can be said about family. The one these four form might not be “traditional,” but it’s pure.