‘The Wedding Banquet’: Sundance Review

Dir: Andrew Ahn. US. 2025. 103mins

Andrew Ahn’s latest feature sensitively reimagines Ang Lee’s 1993 Oscar-nominated romantic comedy, with the original’s co-writer James Schamus co-scripting and co-producing the update. An intended marriage of convenience still lies at its heart, but the relationships are given a modern makeover as Ahn probes questions of commitment and celebrates the families we choose to make for ourselves. A smart if broad comedy that is exposition-heavy in places, it boasts a strong ensemble cast who give it a shot in the arm.   

Likeable stars and warm inclusivity

Ahn is returning to the Sundance Premieres section after his debut Spa Night played in competition at the festival in 2016. The Wedding Banquet’s likeable stars and warm inclusivity make it the ideal choice for opening night film at BFI Flare: London LGBTQ+ Film Festival in March, followed by an April release through Bleecker Street in the US. Universal Pictures Content Group has international rights, with no dates yet set.

Here, the action is transported from New York to Seattle, where four gay friends are also neighbours. Chris (Bowen Yang, who also starred in Ahn’s Fire Island) is in a long-term relationship with Korean rich kid Min (Han Gi-chan). With his student visa set to expire, Min proposes to Chris, but the American gets cold feet. Their pals Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) and Lee (Lily Gladstone), meanwhile, are struggling to have a baby via IVF, with Angela increasingly worried that parenthood might see her replicating the tricky relationship she has with her mother May (Joan Chen). Angela’s problem, in a nice twist on what might be expected, stems not from the fact that May disapproves of her life choices, but that she is so completely supportive that she has just won a Gay Ally award.

The solution the friends hit upon is the sort of contrived arrangement that could only come up in a comedy such as this. Min – whose family don’t know he is gay – will enter into a marriage of convenience with Angela in return for paying for another round of fertility treatment for the women. The transactional nature of all this seems weird because they are supposed to be best buddies and Min is flush with cash but, thankfully, at this point Min’s grandmother (Youn Yuh-jung) decides to jet in from Korea to meet the bride. 

Min’s gran is a smarter cookie that might be expected and her presence takes the story to unexpected places, subtly shifting the original’s subterfuge as the wedding banquet of the title is planned. Minari Oscar-winner Youn brings a twinkly energy and emotional depth to her character, making her the film’s greatest asset.

When the comedy is given room to breathe in between all the chunks of expositional back story, the rest of the cast also deliver – including during a farcical scene in which the foursome “de-queer” the women’s home ahead of the arrival of Min’s gran. Angela gets the best of the characterisation, largely because Tran is able to play off Chen’s nuanced performance, although almost all of their conflict is crammed into a single conversation. The rest of the group feels short-changed by comparison, particularly Gladstone’s Lee, whose only defining feature seems to be that she desperately wants a child.  

In terms of craft, the costuming from Matthew Simonelli stands out, from the lived-in look he gives the younger characters to the status-driven clothing of May and his work on a detailed traditional outfit that student designer Min crafts for his grandmother for the wedding.

There are no bad guys here so the stakes are on the low side, but Ahn finds elegant variation in the way the couples’ conflicts are resolved. It’s not what they say but how these characters show their love that counts.