The Wedding Banquet

Synopsis: A gay man from South Korea considers marrying a woman friend when his American boyfriend says no to his proposal. His grandmother wants to throw a big wedding banquet.

In The Wedding Banquet, four gay adults in Seattle need to play romantic musical chairs to get what they want or what they want to avoid.

The original The Wedding Banquet was co-written and filmed by Ang Lee in 1993. Set in NYC, a Taiwanese man, Wai-Tung, is partnered with a white man. Seeking to placate his parents in Taiwan, Wai-Tung approaches a Chinese neighbor, a woman who is in need of a green card–and proposes marriage. His parents promise to throw a big Chinese party.

The 2025 version of The Wedding Banquet teases a Korean party. More characters are added to the mix too. We are introduced to Lee (Lily Gladstone) and Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) who rent-out their garage to another gay couple, Chris (Bowen Yang) and Min (Han Gi-chan).

I’m pretty sure Chris and Min’s quarters wouldn’t be allowed by zoning and would def fail inspection as there appears to be no kitchen or running water for a bathroom. No problem! Lee and Angela could explain to city inspectors that they have given their tenants house bathroom and kitchen privileges.

Now… Imo, children are wonderful, but the child-raising lifestyle isn’t easy. Many gay couples know the freedom of spur-of-the-moment outings with friends and the dignity of no spit up-covered shirts. But Lee and Angela want a baby. Or at least Lee does. The two women have scraped up just enough money for a round of IVF.

I wish that there were swap meets where gay couples could swap for the eggs and sperm they need. On one hand, the gay men would have it easy, just needing a few minutes of privacy to produce the goods. While the women would need doctors and God knows what kind of equipment for egg retrieval. But at least they have the housing for the embryos. While the men need to rent-a-womb.

Chris and Min are child-free but not care-free. Chris is dragging his feet on completing his dissertation. He spends his days birding. Unfortunately, birds have nothing to do with his Ph.D.  Min is a twenty-something fashion student. His Korean family is loaded.  And they’ve become impatient with Min’s five-year school stint in America. They want him home, working in the family business. But then he won’t be able to spend his days quilting. Or with Chris.

Another problem with Min going home is that his grandfather is a homophobe. Lol, I almost called grandad a homophone.

If Min marries Chris, he can stay in the U.S., but Chris is a commitment-phobe. I felt badly for Min because he wants to marry Chris whether it helps him get residency or not. At first, Chris was like, no thanks, but pretty soon he’s more like eww, marriage. He practically runs out of their illegal studio to escape Min’s lovesickness.

In 1993’s The Wedding Banquet marriage equality didn’t exist yet. In 2025, gay marriage is legal, so TWB‘s four characters have options to realize their goals. And it’s probably a good thing that the characters live in Seattle, Washington, a sanctuary city, because the Trump regime doesn’t seem to like immigrants. There is not a lot of rom or com in a wannabe police state.  But the character from South Korea wouldn’t have to worry yet, as the movie is set in 2024.

While the two couples figure out how to have a baby and stay in the U.S., they have plenty of time to go to community events and clubs. Sometimes, they end up drunk (except Lee, who is trying to get pregnant) and stagger through Seattle’s streets at the end of the night. Uh, I’m not besmirching Seattle’s crime rate, but this is not Helsinki or Tokyo. Although rom-coms do have a fantasy element, so we’ll just be glad that our characters don’t have to be street-savvy in Movie-Seattle.

The characters’ drunkenness gets them brainstorming about getting free sperm/impregnation and having a trad wedding that will satisfy U.S. immigration and Min’s grandparents. Thankfully, Jin’s grandma/halmoni just wants a wedding.

One weekend grandma phones that she’ll be in town to plan the celebration. When? asks Jin on the phone. When grandma says she’s at the airport in Seattle, Jin & Chris and Angela & Lee rush to de-gayify the house.

In The Wedding Banquet, the artwork and books are sapphic-centered. They remove a Lilith Fair poster from a wall. Not that grandma would know about the late 90’s Sarah McLachlan music festival that featured women singers like Fiona Apple, Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega and Sheryl Crow.

Our exhausted quartet hosts grandma, endeavoring to make her comfortable. And to keeping her in the dark as to their sexual orientations and partnerships. But you’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to outfox this grandma.

As the wedding banquet approaches –I won’t spoil who is getting married– both gay couples squabble. I figured that things would work out because this is not 1950 where a happy ending would’ve been our four principals saying they were confused and not gay after all!

Oh! I forgot to tell you that The Wedding Banquet includes two supporting actors who are in top form. First, and foremost, is Youn Yuh-jung as grandma. You may remember her as another the grandma, the matriarch in Minari, a role for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (2020). Joan Chen, who made a splash in The Last Emperor (1987), appears as Angela’s mom. Angela is a wallflower but her mom, May Chen is glamorous and forward. Mom is often embarrassing her daughter with her PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) awards and speeches.

I had faith that grandma would pull together a great party in spite of complications. Min is busy sewing a wedding guest jacket for his grandma, while Chris wonders if he will be able to stay authentic to the ceremony by toting a live goose to the wedding ceremony. Angela deals with butterflies and Lee concedes that she while she’s not keen on the institution of marriage, she is pro celebration.

Maybe not all of the couples’ problems will be resolved by the end of the wedding banquet; but count on Love to win out by the end of The Wedding Banquet. After all, as the brilliant Lin Manuel Miranda embellished the LGBTQA rallying cry; Love is Love is love is love.

Movie Loon’s Movie Review Shortcut:

Grade:   B-

Cut to the Chase:  I could’ve used so more com, but the rom is sweet.

Humor Highlight:  The way Bowen Yang delivers his lines.