Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 film The Wedding Banquet began streaming on Paramount+ this month and has drawn attention for its cast and tonal blend of comedy and family drama. The film stars Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran and Bowen Yang and has prompted critics to single out supporting performances by Joan Chen and Youn Yuh-jung.
Ahn, who directed the 2022 comedy Fire Island, co-wrote the script with James Schamus, who helped script the original Wedding Banquet. The 2025 version follows a gay couple in Los Angeles navigating fertility struggles and a contrived marriage plan intended to secure in-vitro fertilization funding and a visa extension, a premise that sets up moments of farce and family reckoning.
The plot centers on Lee (Gladstone) and Angela (Tran), a committed couple attempting in-vitro fertilization who lack financial resources for another cycle. Their close friends, Chris (Yang) and Min (Han Gi-chan), live in the couple’s guest house. Min, heir to a wealthy Korean family, faces an expiring U.S. visa and a grandmother, Ja-young (Youn), who does not know he is gay and expects him to return to Korea to assume family responsibilities. To secure funds, Min agrees to a marriage arrangement with Angela so he can remain in the United States while fronting the IVF expenses, a ruse that unravels when Ja-young visits and characters scramble to present a conventional household.
Critics have praised the film’s supporting performances and moments of emotional clarity. In a review published Sept. 8, 2025, John Serba of Decider wrote that Youn Yuh-jung and Joan Chen provide “terrific supporting performances,” with Youn grounding key scenes and refusing to conform to elder stereotypes. Serba noted that Youn anchors two scenes that “all but make the movie,” and that Chen and Youn deliver poignant beats that bolster the film’s emotional core. The review also described Gladstone as underused in the final act despite her strong screen presence.
Reviewers observed that Ahn balances broad, sitcom-style comedy with earnest relationship drama, producing an occasionally uneven but generally affable film. Serba compared the tone to a mix of The Birdcage and Crazy Rich Asians, saying Ahn sprinkles big laughs among heartfelt moments while addressing themes of family, identity and the tensions between chosen family and the families people are born into. The screenplay, Serba added, includes culturally specific touches, such as a depiction of Korean wedding traditions woven into a comic narrative.
The film contains moments of physical comedy and frank discussion of fertility and sexuality; Serba noted a brief nudity shot and several comic exchanges that lean into adult humor. He concluded that while the film is not without clutter and tonal potholes, its humor and performances smooth over many of its flaws and render it a compassionate depiction of contemporary queer family life.
The Wedding Banquet’s release follows Ahn’s increasing profile after Fire Island and arrives amid renewed interest in stories exploring LGBTQ relationships and immigrant family dynamics. The Decider review’s assessment was explicit in its recommendation: “STREAM IT,” calling the film “as emotionally intelligent as it is entertaining.” The review framed the film as a medium-weight dramedy that finds agency and warmth in characters attempting to keep family intact amid difficult circumstances.
Paramount+ lists The Wedding Banquet among its recent additions. The film’s reception in broader critical circles will likely hinge on responses to its tonal shifts, use of its lead cast and the strength of its supporting work from veteran actors such as Chen and Youn.