Film Review

Joy Ride (2023) — raunchy comedy undone by a dramatic tonal twist

Four Asian American friends bond while travelling through China in search of one of their birth mothers.

Adele Lim’s raunchy comedy Joy Ride opens with the awkward first meeting between young Audrey (Lennon Lee) and Lolo (Chloe Pun), the only two Chinese girls in an all-white American neighbourhood. And once the pugnacious Lolo decks a bully for his discrimination concerning a playground slide, she and Audrey become BFFs.

Two decades later, the pair are still friends but have grown into two very different people: Audrey (Ashley Park) is now the stereotype of the model Asian American, while Lolo (Sherry Cola) has become a sex-positive artist and hot mess. Thanks to her parents, Lolo still maintains ties with the Old Country, and these attachments inspire her and her K-pop-loving cousin “Deadeye” (Sabrina Wu) to tag along on Audrey’s trip to Beijing to land a major client and earn a partnership at her law firm.