I’m increasingly convinced that movie magic is about walking into a theater not knowing what you’re about to see, being whisked off into a world you barely know, and walking away with a little bit of treasure. That’s how I felt after seeing Andrew Ahn’s gay rom-com, The Wedding Banquet.
Bowen Yang and Han Gi-Chan play longtime partners Chris and Min, who live in the extra room of Chris’ best friend, Angela (Kelly Marie Tran), and her partner Lee (Lily Gladstone).
Min is the heir to a massive clothes conglomerate in South Korea, and his grandmother, Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung), needs Min to return to Korea to take over one of the company’s divisions. The last thing Min wants to do is run his family’s business, and his grandmother threatens to pull his student visa if he doesn’t obey. To make matters worse, Min tries to propose to Chris, and Chris flat out refuses to marry Min for a green card, even though Min had been planning to propose for months.
“Min concocts a plan to fake marry Angela to appease his grandmother…”x`
Angela and Lee have a more personal problem. Lee’s dream is to become a mother. Supportive Angela has agreed to help Lee through the IVF process, but the second round didn’t stick. The pair doesn’t have the money for a third and final round, and Angela seems emotionally detached from Lee’s dilemma.
In a spark of genius, Min concocts a plan to fake marry Angela to appease his grandmother and get that green card. Min will pay for Lee’s IVF treatment in return for Angela’s hand in marriage. Let’s just say no one thinks this is a good idea, but it’s their only viable plan.
Now, Min and Angela must host Min’s grandmother at Lee’s house, plan a wedding in two weeks, and keep Min from outing his grandmother. Chris is frustrated that Min is getting married, while at the same time, he has not planned on ever marrying Min…he needs time to think about it. Angela is not exactly enthusiastic about being a parent, especially since she was raised by a grade-A narcissist in her mother, May (Joan Chen), who has made a career out of being her daughter’s, but mostly the LGBTQ+ community’s, greatest ally.
"…a very gay movie."
