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‘joy ride’ review: ashley park and stephanie hsu in a raunchy, rowdy comedy with genuine heart.

This directorial debut from 'Crazy Rich Asians' screenwriter Adele Lim follows four friends on their wild, international adventure.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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Audrey and Lolo’s friendship is the bedrock of Joy Ride , which presents itself as a caustic, Asian-diaspora-representational romp. The film, which premiered at SXSW and will be released in theaters in July, is laced with the same bawdy brand of humor as classic contemporary American studio comedies, from The Hangover and Pineapple Express to Bridesmaids and Girls Trip . And, like Bottoms , another spicy SXSW entrant, Joy Ride sets out to prove (or re-prove) that populations still marginalized by Hollywood (women, people of color, queer folks) can be just as unapologetically brash, bold and rowdy.

After building its necessary backstory, Joy Ride zips to the present day, where Audrey (Park), a high-powered corporate lawyer, prepares to take a career-changing business trip to China. Closing the Beijing deal would earn Audrey, the only woman and seemingly the only person of color at her firm, an exciting promotion. Her boss doesn’t know that she, an adoptee with white parents, can’t speak Mandarin. To help her with translation, Audrey invites Lolo (Cola), now an artist who constructs whimsical, sex-positive sculptures, to come along. It’s been decades since the two women met on the playground, and although they are still close, the ruthlessness of time and divergent priorities threaten to change their friendship. Audrey itches for life outside of White Falls, while Lolo can’t imagine them living apart.

This trip to China takes on a dual meaning: an opportunity for Audrey to ascend the corporate ladder and a way for Lolo to rekindle the spark in their friendship. Joining the duo on their international adventure is Lolo’s cousin Deadeye (Wu) and Audrey’s best friend from college, Kat (Hsu). After graduation, Kat moved to Beijing to become an actress; she’s now nationally beloved and engaged to her TV show costar Clarence (Desmond Chiam). Meanwhile, the introverted and well-meaning Deadeye hopes to connect with other K-pop disciples in Beijing.

Like the best quartets in film and TV, the four friends form an unlikely crew, but it’s their differences that make their relationships with one another oddly comforting. Joy Ride balances its irreverent humor — a mix of sex jokes and insider-y, affectionate jabs at stereotypes within the Asian diaspora — with poignance. Audrey’s client’s intense interest in her family life prompts her to search for her birth mother.

Once you get past the contrived nature of this storyline, Joy Ride takes some surprising and heartwarming turns. The four main characters journey through China — from the city to the suburbs — encountering new friends and old family members. The film’s sense of humor is enhanced by Lim’s energetic direction — she plays with intimate close-ups and trusts her performers to experiment with their roles — and Chevapravatdumrong and Hsiao’s genuine interest in fleshing out the four friends, giving each of them enough screen time for viewers to identify and root for them.  

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‘Joy Ride’ Review: A Raunch-Com Roller Coaster

Four friends travel to China in a trip that goes entertainingly off the rails in this terrific comedy, starring Ashley Park and Sherry Cola.

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By Elisabeth Vincentelli

The new “Joy Ride” offers a modern-comedy bingo card with pretty much all the squares checked: mismatched besties, an oddball crashing a group outing, said outing going wildly off the rails, freewheeling sex, projectile vomiting, unhinged debauchery involving booze and drugs, and a crucial plot point hinging on an intimate body part.

This film, directed by the “ Crazy Rich Asians ” co-writer Adele Lim, may not reinvent the raunch-com wheel (see: “ The Hangover ,” “ Girls Trip ,” “ Bridesmaids ”), but it does change who’s driving the car. And, most importantly, it is really, really funny.

“Joy Ride” processes all of its familiar ingredients into a sustained, sometimes near-berserk, barrage of jokes, interspersed with epic set pieces. That is, up until the two-thirds mark, when the movie paints itself into a corner and presses the “earnest sentimentality” eject button before managing a narrow escape. It’s a small price to pay for the inspired pandemonium that precedes.

The mismatched friends here are Audrey (the brilliant Ashley Park , from “ Emily in Paris ”) and Lolo (a deliciously acerbic Sherry Cola), who have been best friends since childhood, when they bonded over being the only two Asian girls in their Pacific Northwest town.

Audrey, who was adopted from China by a white couple, grows up to become a prim, career-obsessed lawyer. She is sent to Beijing to close a deal, with a promotion hanging on her success. Since her Mandarin is practically nonexistent, she brings along the irrepressible Lolo. Completing the comic superteam are Lolo’s socially awkward cousin, Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), whose superpower is extensive K-pop knowledge, and Audrey’s college roommate Kat ( Stephanie Hsu , from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”), now a screen star in China and engaged to her very hunky and very Christian co-star (Desmond Chiam).

Eventually, Audrey decides to find her birth mother, and the four women set off on an odyssey that immediately devolves into a series of mishaps. The shenanigans come at breakneck speed, and peak with a repurposing of the Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion hit “WAP” that could become a late-night-karaoke staple in its own right.

The film is especially sharp around identity and assimilation, and the screenwriters Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao have fun with the expectations and stereotypes placed on Asians and Asian Americans — including those that are self-imposed. The seams show only toward the end, when the film’s pace slackens, but even then, the cast’s chemistry and flawless timing hold steady.

As the straight arrow protagonist, Park expertly pulls off a trick similar to Kristen Wiig in “Bridesmaids”: Her character serves as the narrative engine, while also setting up comedy opportunities for the others.

If there is any justice, Park will soon be a marquee name. But this applies to all of the central quartet, who so effectively take advantage of the movie’s many opportunities to shine. With “Joy Ride,” summer has truly arrived.

Rated R for exuberant sexuality, bilingual foul language, brief nudity and liberal use of drugs and booze. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. In theaters .

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Movie Review: ‘Joy Ride’ is a cheerfully gross-out comedy that soars, thanks to a terrific cast

This image released by Lionsgate shows Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, from left, Ashley Park as Audrey, Sherry Cola as Lolo, and Stephanie Hsu as Kat, in a scene from “Joy Ride.” (Ed Araquel/Lionsgate via AP)

This image released by Lionsgate shows Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, from left, Sherry Cola as Lolo, Stephanie Hsu as Kat, and Ashley Park as Audrey in a scene from “Joy Ride.” (Ed Araquel/Lionsgate via AP)

This image released by Lionsgate shows Stephanie Hsu as Kat, from left, Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, Ashley Park as Audrey, and Sherry Cola as Lolo in a scene from “Joy Ride.” (Ed Araquel/Lionsgate via AP)

This image released by Lionsgate shows Stephanie Hsu as Kat, from left, Sherry Cola as Lolo, Ashley Park as Audrey, and Sabrina Wu as Deadeye in a scene from “Joy Ride.” (Ed Araquel/Lionsgate via AP)

This image released by Lionsgate shows Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, from left, Ashley Park as Audrey, Stephanie Hsu as Kat and Sherry Cola as Lolo in a scene from “Joy Ride.” (Ed Araquel/Lionsgate via AP)

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If you’re like me, there comes a moment of truth in raunchy film comedies when you decide whether to fully join in the fun — or ride it out on the fence.

It often comes in a key early comic scene. Can they pull it off? If so you’ll be putty in their hands for two hours, ready to chuckle along no matter how gross it gets (think of that bridal dress fitting in “Bridesmaids.”) If not, you’ll shuffle uncomfortably on the sidelines, feeling rather like a prude.

In first-time director Adele Lim’s ebullient, chaotic, nothing’s-too-gross-if-it’s funny road comedy “Joy Ride,” that moment came for me when watching Ashley Park swallow a disgusting concoction in a drinking contest, pretending all’s fine as her insides erupt. Expert comic chops cannot be faked. Park had me from that guzzle (and cemented it later with her Gollum impression.)

Yet the impressive thing about “Joy Ride,” a comedy that more than earns its R rating — folks, it features a vaginal tattoo in full-frontal glory — is that there are similar moments for each of the superb quartet of actors that make this film buzz along.

Park, playing an ambitious and uptight lawyer, has the trickiest job, being funny while remaining the narrative center, and tasked with making us not only laugh but cry. But each of her co-stars — comic Sherry Cola as a cheerfully profane, struggling artist, Sabrina Wu as her awkward, K-pop obsessed cousin, and a fabulous Stephanie Hsu as a soap opera diva — pulls their weight in comedy gold. A viewer’s gross-out tolerance may vary; what unites is the laughter. Funny how simple it is when that works.

We first meet Audrey as a child in suburban Washington state, the adopted daughter of white parents who delightedly welcome Lolo, from a Chinese family, as a playmate for their daughter. When the bolder Lolo makes mincemeat of a white racist bully in the park, the girls launch a lifelong friendship.

Back to the present. Audrey, a lawyer so competitive she demolishes her boss at squash (he keeps claiming he’s “an ally” while tossing off racially insensitive asides), is living in the same hometown — not for nothing is it called White Hills — and Lolo is nearby. Audrey’s boss promises a big promotion and a move to Los Angeles if she can seal an important deal in Beijing.

Problem is, Audrey doesn’t speak Mandarin, so she enlists Lolo as a translator. As far as Lolo’s concerned, Audrey’s problems run deeper than her lack of language; she lacks any connection to her Asian roots. What a perfect time, Lolo thinks, for Audrey to make inroads. Maybe she can even find her birth mother.

In Beijing, Audrey survives a brutal night of competitive drinking with her potential client, who likes her until he finds out she has little connection to China. Suddenly, in an effort to save the big deal, Audrey and company are off on a road trip to find Audrey’s birth mother. This includes Deadeye, Lolo’s cousin, and Kat, Audrey’s former college roommate, now a very sexually frustrated soap star. Hsu, after her breakout performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” shows huge comic potential here.

The plot — outlandish and sometimes contrived as it is — offers plenty of room for comic possibility. And more. Screenwriters Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao explore themes of identity, assimilation and anti-Asian racism both overt and casual — and within the Asian community itself.

When, for example, the foursome hops on a train, they search for a compartment with people who seem “safe.” Audrey rejects a number of Chinese travelers but settles happily in with a blonde American woman — who turns out to be a drug dealer. The scene involves hiding copious amounts of cocaine in ungodly places, but also reflects on Audrey’s subconscious racism.

Kicked off the train in the middle of the countryside but rescued by a basketball team (yeah, just go with it), the foursome has a ridiculously raunchy night (sorry for overusing the word, but “raunch” says it so well) before getting marooned again. The comic energy reaches its apotheosis in a K-pop number whose lyrics we cannot repeat here. The group has been forced to disguise itself as a band so they can get to Korea without passports. (Why? Too complicated). Their song is so overtly sexual you might find yourself blushing — except, as usual, the laughter is what wins out.

Even when the above-mentioned X-rated tattoo is staring you in the face. Which it is.

And then we pivot, dramatically, when Audrey’s trip to see her birth mom has an unexpected result. And suddenly, the laughter turns to tears. I know those were sniffles I heard at my screening, and not just mine. How did THAT happen, we wonder.

Well, it’s easy: Park earned it. They all did.

“Joy Ride,” a Lionsgate release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America “for strong and crude sexual content, language throughout, drug content and brief graphic nudity.” Running time: 95 minutes. Three stars out of four.

MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Buckle up: This mile-a-minute 'Joy Ride' across China is a raunchy romp

Justin Chang

Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), left, Audrey (Ashley Park), Lolo (Sherry Cola) and Kat (Stephanie Hsu) in Joy Ride. Ed Araquel/Lionsgate hide caption

Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), left, Audrey (Ashley Park), Lolo (Sherry Cola) and Kat (Stephanie Hsu) in Joy Ride.

There's an early moment in Joy Ride when you'll know if you're on board with this exuberantly raunchy comedy or not. On a neighborhood playground, a white kid tells a young Chinese American girl named Lolo that the place is off-limits to "ching chongs."

Lolo then does something that maybe a lot of us who've been on the receiving end of racist bullying have fantasized about doing: She drops an F-bomb and punches him in the face. It's an extreme response, but also a hilarious and, frankly, cathartic one — a blissfully efficient counter to every stereotype of the shy, docile Asian kid.

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Lolo soon becomes best friends with Audrey, one of the only other Asian American girls in their Washington state suburb. That aside, the two could hardly be more different: Where Lolo is unapologetically crude and outspoken, Audrey is quiet and eager-to-please. And while Lolo speaks Mandarin fluently and grew up steeped in Chinese culture, Audrey is more westernized, having been adopted as a baby in China and raised by white parents.

Years later, they're still best friends and total opposites: Audrey, played by Ashley Park, is a lawyer on the fast track to making partner at her firm, while Lolo, played by Sherry Cola, is a broke artist who makes sexually explicit sculptures.

The story gets going when Audrey is sent on a business trip to Beijing to woo a potential client. Lolo comes along for fun, and to serve as Audrey's translator. Lolo also brings along her K-pop-obsessed cousin, nicknamed Deadeye, who's played by the non-binary actor Sabrina Wu.

The script, written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao, is heavy on contrivance: Thanks to Lolo's meddling, Audrey winds up putting her work on hold and trying to track down her birth mother. But the director Adele Lim keeps the twists and the laughs coming so swiftly that it's hard not to get swept up in the adventure.

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The comedy kicks up a notch once Audrey looks up her old college pal Kat, who's now a successful actor on a Chinese soap opera. Kat is played by Stephanie Hsu , who, after her melancholy breakout performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once , gets to show off some dazzling comedic chops here .

Like Lolo, with whom she initially butts heads, Kat has had a lot of sex, something she's trying to hide from her strictly Christian fiancé. But no one in Joy Ride holds onto their secrets, or their inhibitions, for very long. As they make their way through the scenic countryside, Audrey, Lolo, Kat and Deadeye run afoul of a drug dealer, hook up with some hunky Chinese basketball players and disguise themselves as a fledgling K-pop group for reasons too outlandish to get into here.

'Never Have I Ever' Complicates Its Asian American Characters. That's The Whole Point

In a way, Joy Ride — which counts Seth Rogen as one its producers — marks the latest step in a logical progression for the mainstream Hollywood comedy. If Bridesmaids and Girls Trip set out to prove that women could be as gleefully gross as, say, the men in The Hangover movies, this one is clearly bent on doing the same for Asian American women and non-binary characters.

Like many of those earlier models, Joy Ride boasts mile-a-minute pop-culture references, filthy one-liners and a few priceless sight gags, including some strategic full-frontal nudity. Naturally, it also forces Audrey and Lolo to confront their differences in ways that put their friendship to the test.

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If it doesn't all work, the hit-to-miss ratio is still impressively high. Joy Ride may be reworking a formula, but it does so with disarming energy and verve, plus a level of savvy about Asian culture that we still rarely see in Hollywood movies. Director Lim can stage a gross-out moment or a frisky montage as well as anyone. But she also gives the comedy a subversive edge, whether she's pushing back on lazy assumptions about Asian masculinity or — in one queasily funny scene — making clear just how racist Asians can be toward other Asians.

The actors are terrific. Deadeye is named Deadeye for their seeming lack of expression, but Wu makes this character, in some ways, the emotional glue that holds the group together. You can hear Cola's past stand-up experience in just about every one of Lolo's foul-mouthed zingers. And Park gives the movie's trickiest performance as Audrey, an insecure overachiever who, as the movie progresses, learns a lot about herself. Maybe that's a cliché, too, but Joy Ride gives it just the punch it needs.

‘Joy Ride’ Review: Outrageous Asian American Comedy Gives Fresh Foursome a Chance to Cut Loose

Co-stars Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu and Stephanie Hsu prove that this raunchy R-rated buddy movie could tell 'The Hangover' to hold their beer.

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“Joy Ride” wastes no time in setting the tone, opening with a flashback to that special moment 25 years earlier when adopted Audrey and new-to-town Lolo cemented their friendship: The two girls have just met at the aptly named White Hills Park when a bully hurls a racist insult across the playground. “Fuck you!” Lolo screams back, punching the kid so hard he’ll probably need stitches. At the movie’s SXSW premiere (where Lionsgate treated the already-rowdy crowd to free alcohol), the auditorium erupted into applause at that moment, which is undeniably empowering — and arguably even necessary, considering the recent spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans.

The movie may not be “Bridesmaids”-level brilliant, but it’s got more than a couple hall-of-fame-worthy comedy set-pieces, like the memorable-enough K-pop cover of Cardi B’s “WAP,” which one-ups itself with an unforgettable reveal. What “Joy Ride” doesn’t have is a particularly strong storyline on which to hang all its how-low-can-you-go shenanigans.

An overachieving associate in an otherwise all-white law firm, Audrey — who was raised by white parents, played by David Denman and Annie Mumolo, and knows hardly anything of her Asian heritage — accepts an assignment to fly to Beijing and seal the deal with an important Chinese client. She invites Lolo along to serve as translator, disregarding the fact that her friend (a “body positive artist” who finds a way to bring most conversations around to sex) has a tendency to say and do outrageously inappropriate things in public.

“Joy Ride” recognizes that women — and especially women of color — have it tough in the workplace, where they aren’t treated as equals and are frequently objectified by their peers. But if the movie’s being political about anything, it’s showing that another underrepresented demographic can be just as extreme as your average Seth Rogen movie. With that goal in mind, “Joy Ride” features more irreverent vagina monologues than “Sausage Party” did dick jokes, which is a surely an accomplishment of some kind.

At the end of the day, what matters is how funny it is, and if you strip away the alcohol-primed SXSW audience’s laugh-at-everything response, a lot of “Joy Ride’s” humor hinges on characters shouting insults (“You look like Hello Kitty just got skull-fucked by Keropi!”) or unapologetic ethnic stereotypes (presumably excused by the source). Wu adds an element of physical comedy to the mix, functioning as the movie’s go-to scene-stealer, the way Melissa McCarthy did in “Bridesmaids,” or Awkwafina in “Crazy Rich Asians.”

The script does a decent job of spreading the laughs between the four core characters, while giving them all something to do in key scenes — whether it’s the cross-country train ride which turns into a desperate scramble to ingest or otherwise conceal a ton of drugs before the Chinese police find them, or an ambitious montage in which each of the women gets lucky with one or more members of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Reviewed at SXSW (Headliners), March 17, 2023. Running time: 95 MIN.

• Production: A Lionsgate release and presentation of a Point Grey, Red Mysterious Hippo production. Producers: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Josh Fagen, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao, Adele Lim. Executive producers: Daniel Clarke.
• Crew: Director: Adele Lim. Screenplay: Cherry Chevapravatdumrong & Teresa Hsiao; story: Cherry Chevapravatdumrong & Teresa Hsiao & Adele Lim. Camera: Paul Yee. Editor: Nena Hsu Erb. Music: Nathan Matthew David.
• With: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu, Ronny Chieng, Meredith Hagner, David Denman, Annie Mumolo, Timothy Simons.

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‘Joy Ride’: Sex, Butt Cocaine, and Raunch-Com Representation for the Win

By David Fear

Raunch-coms live or die by their ability to make you go “Oh my god!” or “Ewwww!” or do a spit-take that spews popcorn over whoever is unlucky enough to be sitting in front of you. So you can give it up for Joy Ride , director Adele Lim ‘s variation on the road-trip-gone-awry story that doesn’t skimp on the holy-shit moments, or gags that actually make you gag a little bit. We don’t want to spoil anything for viewers, so let’s say that there could be bags of coke that explode inside bodily orifices, at which point much horniness may ensue. You might get a close-up of a very extreme tattoo, inked in an extremely painful place to have one. Perhaps there will be a tribute to the joys of a vigorous “Devil’s Triangle” (also known as “the Eiffel Tower”). Let’s just say that the film’s R rating isn’t the only thing that’s hard here.

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The salaciousness of what happens to these messy, flawed, horny, hungover, all-too human twentysomethings plays better than the sentimentality that takes over that last third or so, which quickly goes from sweet to saccharine on its way to the inevitable equivalent of a group hug. The need for likability becomes a liability in the end. Still, Joy Ride understands how to get down and dirty, and that the healing power of raunch-coms lies in making the transgressive seem relatable, and vise versa. (Who among us has not miscounted the amount of cocaine bags we’ve shoved up our ass at one time or another?) The fact that this genre was a sandbox that once seemed off limits to the talented people now playing in it adds an extra thrill as well. If it’s the start of a beautiful, ongoing working relationship between Lim and these four, we’ll take it. Let a thousand foul-mouthed, massage-gun-abusing, middle-finger-flying flowers bloom.

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'Joy Ride' Review: A Delightful and Irreverent Girls' Trip Full of Laughs and Raunchiness

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Adele Lim 's new girls' trip film, Joy Ride , is destined to join the ranks of iconic comedy movies like The Hangover and Bridesmaids . Complete with crude humor, raunchy sex scenes, and full-frontal, this movie is definitely not for everyone but it dives deeper than movies of its ilk while also not shying away from the kind of laughs that make these movies so good. As her directorial debut, it's clear that Lim put a lot of heart into the film, and alongside writers Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao , the movie is not only a riot but one that fully sinks into the characters who are at the center of this 95-minute film. The story follows Audrey Sullivan ( Ashley Park ), an Asian American woman who was adopted and raised by white parents, as she goes on a business trip to China with her best friend Lolo Chen ( Sherry Cola ). The trip quickly goes off the rails and soon Lolo's cousin Deadeye ( Sabrina Wu ) and Audrey's college roommate Kat ( Stephanie Hsu ) also get dragged into a journey across China in search of Audrey's birth mother.

RELATED: 'Joy Ride' Director Adele Lim Explains Why Water Buffalo Were Cut from the Film

'Joy Ride' Flips Stereotypes on Their Heads

Without a doubt, Joy Ride is hilarious. Chevapravatdumrong and Hsiao both met and worked together as writers for Family Guy and their no-holds-barred humor feels like a perfect fit for the wackiness of the twists and turns in Joy Ride . From threesomes with basketball players in a random hotel in China to a K-pop-inspired performance of "WAP" that ends in a hilarious wardrobe malfunction, the trio of creators Chevapravatdumrong, Hsiao, and Lim have set this movie up with some iconic scenes. What's better is Joy Ride doesn't hesitate in not only smashing but completely obliterating any stereotypes about the timid, shy, soft-spoken Asian woman. A lot differentiates Audrey, Lolo, Deadeye, and Kat from each other, but one thing they all share is that they do not fit comfortably into a stereotypical box.

Audrey is a high-powered lawyer, ambitious and eager to rise up at her firm which is predominantly full of white men. She's got no problem going toe-to-toe with her boss in squash and beating his ass without remorse. Lolo is an artist who unabashedly creates sex-positive art, from a playground made of genitalia to a perverse version of the Lucky Cat statue, she may have been raised by more conservative parents, but she certainly is not afraid to embrace her sexual side. Deadeye is a K-pop-obsessed fan who isn't afraid to speak bluntly with the group, even if they are sometimes merely the person that is tagging along. And Kat, who goes back to China for a career as an actor, might seem to check every dutiful, demure, and sweet box on the surface but has a raunchy, checkered past that makes her more like Lolo than she might like to admit.

Audrey's Story in 'Joy Ride' Goes Deeper Than Just Finding Her Mom

It's precisely this multifaceted approach to character that makes Joy Ride more than just a story about Asian identity. While shows like American Born Chinese and Fresh Off the Boat have given us looks into the immigrant story, the characters of Joy Ride are second generation. Lolo and Audrey have grown up in America, where they've been somewhat assimilated, and it's these varying levels of connection to their Asian heritage that also gives the story roots. While the humor might not hit for everyone in the audience, for those who have grown up in the culture, jokes about having the one friend who doesn't like boba or about century-egg-laced liquor, or Asians' own preconceived stereotypes about themselves hit because they're clearly written from people who know what they're talking about.

The whole reason the movie kicks off is because Audrey has to lock down a deal with a Chinese company and going to China she meets Chao ( Ronny Chieng ) who immediately asks about her family and knowing that he will judge her and shut her out being the adopted daughter of Americans, she deflects with a lie. What might seem like an invasive question to non-Asians is exactly what you might expect if you understand the culture. Conversations about the importance of family and the more traditional values connected to knowing your roots and your family history work because the story understands that Chao values this and Audrey understands that as well.

Sherry Cola and Stephanie Hsu Are the Highlights of 'Joy Ride'

But humor and a good story are only as good as the characters who are there to hold it up. The interpersonal dynamics between the four characters are what lies at the heart of the story. Audrey and Lolo's long-time friendship is tested when they wonder if they simply became friends out of necessity as the only two Asians in their school, while Lolo herself struggles with her journey as an artist and deciding whether to live hand-to-mouth or "sell out" and work for her parents at their restaurant. Meanwhile, Kat must decide what to do in her relationship with her co-star Clarence ( Desmond Chiam ). Clarence is a hot but very Christian and celibate man and Kat has been lying to him about her past, keeping her more promiscuous history concealed for fear that it will break up their relationship. And Deadeye worries that all of the friends that they've made through their K-pop fandom might actually boil down to nothing, despite their dedication and obsession with it.

While everyone in the cast is funny, with some hilarious cameos from Chieng, Chiam, and Chris Pang (and a more poignant one from Daniel Dae Kim ), Sherry Cola and Stephanie Hsu deserve all the praise in this. Lolo and Kat are already very similar, but Cola and Hsu's approach to the crude and silly humor of each scene is refreshing, and it's hard to imagine anyone better fit for their roles. Cola had a more serious role in this year's Shortcomings , but it's clear that her forte is in comedy. While Hsu already stunned in Everything Everywhere All at Once last year, she completely lets loose in Joy Ride and I can't wait to see what project she is in next.

Bursting with laughter and heart, Joy Ride is not only chock-full of ribald comedy, but it's a wholesome story about friendship which is what grounds these types of movies. Without the firm backbone of these four characters, there wouldn't be enough to keep the film afloat. A movie made to be watched in a group, Joy Ride should be the next flick you watch with your friends after which none of you will be able to look at a Theragun the same way again.

Joy Ride is in theaters starting July 7.

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Follows four Asian American friends as they bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through China in search of one of their birth mothers... Read all Follows four Asian American friends as they bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through China in search of one of their birth mothers. Follows four Asian American friends as they bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through China in search of one of their birth mothers.

• Cherry Chevapravatdumrong
• Teresa Hsiao
• Ashley Park
• Sherry Cola
• Stephanie Hsu
• 147 User reviews
• 132 Critic reviews
• 74 Metascore
• 2 wins & 17 nominations

Top cast 61

• Mary Sullivan

• Joe Sullivan
• Young Lolo (age 5)
• Young Audrey (age 5)

• Swinging Kid

• Audrey (age 12)

• Lolo (age 12)

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• Trivia Stephanie Hsu said she could not contain her laughter for several takes when Sabrina Wu 's Deadeye was explaining their nickname to Kat by putting on a blank expression.
• Goofs In the slapping game, Chao gets slapped hard by Audrey across the upper face but has a small wound on the side of his lip.

Kat : My vagina is the devil and she's here to stay!

• Connections Featured in Amanda the Jedi Show: 'BOTTOMS' is WILD | Kicked out of The Evil Dead Rise Premiere SXSW (2023)
• Soundtracks Ants Marching Written by Dave Matthews (as David J. Matthews) Performed by Dave Matthews Band Courtesy of RCA Records By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

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• ethanbresnett
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• July 7, 2023 (United States)
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• Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall St, Vancouver, Canada (the location where leading character first met her friend in China)
• Lionsgate Films
• Point Grey Pictures
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• $12,897,789
• Jul 9, 2023
• $15,787,674

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• Runtime 1 hour 35 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Joy Ride review: Sex, drugs, and a very raunchy road movie

Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu star in this predictable but charming comedy, about a group of friends on a bawdy trip through China.

Devan Coggan (rhymes with seven slogan) is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly. Most of her personality is just John Mulaney quotes and Lord of the Rings references.

Five years ago, Adele Lim co-wrote Crazy Rich Asians , a hit rom-com that raked in more than $238 million and helped shatter misconceptions about Asian-led films in Hollywood. A sequel was quickly greenlit, but Lim later exited the film after she was reportedly offered significantly less money than her white male co-writer. Instead, she turned to a new project: a filthy road comedy about four best friends traveling through China. Now, that film has become a reality, and Lim makes her feature directorial debut with Joy Ride (out this weekend), a riotous raunch-fest that doesn't reinvent the genre but earns every bit of its hard-R rating.

Lim developed Joy Ride with friends Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao, and the film itself is a testament to friendship and the many messy forms it can take. Broadway alum Ashley Park stars as Audrey, a buttoned-up overachiever who, as a child, was adopted from China by white American parents. Young Audrey became fast friends with Lolo (Sherry Cola), the only other Asian girl in their blindingly white suburb. (When a kid on the playground hurls a racial slur, the tiny Lolo decks him in the face, a shocking but hilarious moment that sets the tone for the chaos to come.) Decades later, Audrey and Lolo are still inseparable, even as Audrey has grown into a prim lawyer, while Lolo is a lawless, sex-positive artist crafting lewd sculptures in Audrey's backyard.

When Audrey heads to China for an international business trip, Lolo volunteers to tag along as her interpreter, accompanied by her awkward, K-pop-obsessed cousin Deadeye (nonbinary actor Sabrina Wu). Later, they're joined by Audrey's college roommate Kat ( Everything Everywhere All at Once star Stephanie Hsu ), who's found fame as a soapy TV star in China. What starts as a giddy vacation quickly goes off the rails, as Ashley tries to close a deal with an intimidating business contact (Ronny Chieng). To prove that she's a dedicated family woman, she reluctantly decides to track down her birth mother in China, triggering — you guessed it — even more chaos.

Joy Ride isn't the first bawdy, R-rated comedy to hit theaters this summer: No Hard Feelings premiered in June, starring Jennifer Lawrence as a 30something hired to flirt with a recent high school grad. But where No Hard Feelings dipped a toe into raunch, Joy Ride cannonballs straight in. Vomit is spewed, drugs are shoved in bodily orifices, threesomes are had with professional basketball players. (Baron Davis has a role as himself.) At one point, having lost their passports, the four friends pose as a fake K-pop group, complete with a hilariously absurd performance of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's " WAP " (ending with a jaw-droppingly filthy finale).

The four leads have an easy chemistry. Hsu, a recent Oscar nominee for Everything Everywhere, shows off her comic chops as the reluctantly celibate Kat, while Wu's Deadeye lives up to their name, delivering emotionless and deeply hilarious reaction shots. Cola is also a charming hurricane of chaos, a lascivious foil to Park's strait-laced Audrey.

Gross gags and chaotic debauchery aren't exactly new, and Joy Ride shares plenty of DNA with other female-led comedies like 2011's Bridesmaids and 2017's Girls Trip . Joy Ride is a welcome addition to the genre, if not a particularly subversive one: Lim raises some thoughtful questions about Asian-American identity and the struggle to belong, but any deeper ideas are overshadowed by nudity and absurdist jokes. Also, not every gag works. (Please, a moratorium on scenes where someone accidentally does cocaine!)

The emotional third act is particularly predictable, trading slapstick for sentimentality and leaning a little too heavily on "friendship saves the day!" cliches. But even among all the sex jokes and vulgar one-liners, Joy Ride boasts a real beating heart. It's a raunchy (and occasionally familiar) ride, but it's well worth the trip. Grade: B

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‘Joy Ride’ Review: Director Adele Lim Steers Her Raunchy and Hilarious Feature Debut in a Bold, New Direction

Marisa mirabal.

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Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 SXSW  Film Festival. Lionsgate releases the film in theaters on Friday, July 7.

(At the SXSW world premiere, Lim joked that all they needed was an ally in the form of a rich white guy to produce their film (thanks, Seth Rogen). With his signature deep chuckle, Rogen lovingly stood back and didn’t attempt to steal the spotlight from the cast as they basked in their shining moment.)

The film’s opening scene is a flashback to 1993 when best friends Lolo (Sherry Cola) and Audrey (Ashley Park) originally meet in a small, predominately white town aptly called White Hills. The two instantly connect on a playground since they are the only two Chinese American kids around. The fact that Audrey is adopted by white parents is no issue for the spunky, outspoken Lolo — who punches a little boy in the face at the first mention of a racist comment toward them.

As the girls grow up together, they hold onto their commonalities, despite being complete opposites in personality. Lolo is an outspoken sex-positive artist with a stronger connection to her heritage than Audrey. Lolo uses her art to subvert traditional gender roles and expectations of women in her culture as well as ignite conversations about sex. Audrey is a reserved and successful lawyer who keeps up with her predominately white male colleagues, usually named Michael or Kevin.

While Audrey is appreciative that her colleagues threw her a birthday party (despite it being “Mulan”-themed), she strives to aim higher by solidifying a deal with a Chinese client in order to become a partner in her firm. Alongside Lolo working as her translator, she books a flight to Beijing and decides to kill two birds with one stone by also searching for her birth mom. The friends are joined by Audrey’s college bestie Kat (Stephanie Hsu) and Lolo’s lonesome cousin Deadeye (charmingly played by non-binary stand-up comedian Sabrina Wu).

Each character has their unique quirks and contributions to their experience as Asian Americans. While shows like “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens” explore the Asian American experience in the U.S., “Joy Ride” stands apart by having its characters travel to China and eventually South Korea.

Aside from the thematic elements surrounding identity and friendship, “Joy Ride” delivers sizzling hot comedy by embracing sex, drugs, cultural immersion, and bridging the gap between young generations and their elders. The crew encounters everything from drug smugglers, to threesomes with members of the Chinese Basketball Association, to vagina tattoos while traveling. The jokes steer clear of slapstick and instead wise attacks on societal stigma and cultural representation at large. They are evenly distributed among the cast with insults, awkward personality quirks, and snide comments to unsuspecting or self-involved acquaintances.

The script overflows with comedy and social commentary almost to a fault because there is so much that these talented women want and deserve to say. Because there are no films like this readily available, the attempt to get points across becomes urgent at times and there are few moments where audiences can fully marinate with the impact.  

Lim’s directing style is fairly traditional in structure and form with some highly creative character sequences, illustrative interludes, and a hilarious K-Pop music video scene. The writing is impressively complex for a comedy and is grounded in more universal themes and broader experiences. For all of those reasons, “Joy Ride” can easily cruise longer than its 95-minute running time.

With so much to say and a supremely talented cast embodying lovable and multi-dimensional characters, a sequel is a no-brainer. “Joy Ride” is easily the golden standard for progressive, raunchy comedy and the need for more diverse stories being told on screen.

“Joy Ride” premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival. Lionsgate will release the film in theaters on Friday, July 7.

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Joy Ride Review: A Hilarious, Raunchy Comedy That Commits To The Bit And Takes You On A Heartfelt Ride

This movie could very possibly leave you screaming, crying and throwing up..

When I say Joy Ride is the kind of movie that has the potential to leave you screaming, crying and throwing up, I mean it. The comedy from writer/director Adele Lim (who co-wrote Crazy Rich Asians ) is an unapologetic, wonderful, and unique road trip comedy that’s full of heart and humor. With the four fully committed performances from Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu and a simultaneously heartfelt and raunchy script, this is the kind of movie that made me laugh until I cried and left me with my jaw on the floor. It also had me beaming with joy from the first frames to the moment the credits started to roll. 

Release Date: July 7, 2023 Directed By: Adele Lim Written By: Adele Lim, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao Starring: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu Rating: R for strong and crude sexual content, language throughout, drug content and brief graphic nudity Runtime: 95 minutes

Joy Ride follows Audrey (Ashley Park), a lawyer living in Seattle, as she and her free-spirited childhood bestie Lolo (Sherry Cola) make their way across the Pacific Ocean to China to close a business deal. As they go on this journey, they’re joined by Lolo’s cousin, the lovable Dead Eye (Sabrina Wu), and Audrey’s college friend/sexually repressed actress Kat (Stephanie Hsu). 

While overseas, the friends decide to try and find Audrey’s birth mom, the protagonist having been adopted when she was young, and so begins a wild journey that involves a lot of K-Pop, sexual shenanigans, a drug bust, and a whole lot of other tomfoolery that makes for a fun, raunchy comedy. 

Joy Ride fully commits to the raunchiness, and it's fantastic because of it.

Completely shameless and committed to the shocking and hilarious comedy, Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu shine bright when they lean into the outrageousness of the plot. While the performances really sell some of the wild elements of this movie, it's also well-written. Adele Lim and her co-writers made sure to plant details along the way that made the crazy moments of the movie make sense, and that paired with the work of the stars is the primary reason this movie works.

The best aspects of the Joy Ride are on full display when the pals decide to create a K-Pop group called Brownie Tuesday to get past airport security. The scene is hysterical, incredibly dirty and unlike anything I’ve ever seen on screen. You’d think a random music video of a fake girl group performing Cardi B ’s “WAP” wouldn’t work, but guess what? It does, and it works so well. It's able to pull this off because the four actors lean into the goofiness.

But while the scene itself is ridiculous, it's also logical within the film. Lim and her co-writers wrote in details early on – like Dead Eye being a huge K-Pop fan and Audrey and Kat’s a cappella background – which made all their actions make sense. It’s important exposition, but it's also never forced; they’re simply silly little details that play a big role later in the movie. 

Ashley Park is a powerhouse, and a brilliantly funny straight woman in Joy Ride.

It's been established that Ashley Park is a powerhouse, but now an even bigger audience knows it because of how excellent she is in Joy Ride . A big reason why the outrageous moments don’t feel totally outlandish is that the film is also grounded, and that’s mostly thanks to Park's performance. While Audrey is a lawyer who says on multiple occasions that they need to be “professional” on this trip to China, she’s also wild, sexy and unapologetically herself (all while spending a lot of the movie trying to find herself).

Audrey's journey to find her birth mom is used as the heartbeat of the film, but the character's background is also part of the movie's comedic voice – with jokes about her knowing all the names of the characters on Succession and not loving Chinese food. Meanwhile, this conflict of her not truly understanding where she comes from serves as the dramatic core.

It’s no easy feat to play both sides of this character, and playing the straight man in a comedy always seems like an uphill battle because the character can be perceived as one-dimensional or boring. However, Audrey is neither of those things; she’s a complex, strong, heartfelt and funny woman thanks to Park's terrific performance. 

Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu are a perfectly balanced ensemble, which made for a wonderfully chaotic story.

Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu comedically thrive in different ways in Joy Ride , and like their friend group in the movie, it’s their differences that make for a perfectly balanced ensemble. Each character is three-dimensional and the actor playing each one is perfectly cast. When you take four fantastic individuals and put them together, you get magic, and that’s precisely what this ensemble is. 

For example, Kate and Lolo have a little feud over who is Audrey’s best friend, and it serves as both a dramatic plot point and a big laugh. This is because both Hsu and Cola have chemistry for days, and they bring their A-games as they both fearlessly play their strong-willed characters. 

While the aforementioned “WAP” scene is the biggest example of this ensemble firing on all cylinders, a drug bust on a train is another prime moment that shows off the group's comedic range. While Hsu shows off her physical comedy skills by dealing with the effects of trying to hide drugs up her butt, Cola thrives on quippy (and wildly sexual) ad-libs while gracefully handling her high. Meanwhile, Park’s ability to play a confused woman from both a dramatic and comedic standpoint shines, and Wu absolutely rocks their performance as a fish out of water who will say anything. All of this then comes together to create a balanced ensemble that understands its strengths.

As the title suggests, this raunchy comedy is a wild and joyful trip. While it will likely be compared to other films in this genre, like Bridesmaids and The Hangover , Joy Ride has its own voice, which is why the film thrives on so many levels. At its core, Adele Lim's directorial debut is a gorgeous and heartfelt story of a woman finding herself, and along the way, she and her friends get into some shenanigans that will leave you laughing, crying and smiling from ear to ear as you walk out of the theater. 

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows  Ted Lasso  and  The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel . She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to  Fire Country , and she's enjoyed every second of it.

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All-Asian cast is brilliantly funny in raunchy road movie.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Joy Ride is a crude, hilarious road movie with strong language, sexual humor, drinking, and drugs. It follows a group of four friends -- Audrey (Ashley Park), Lolo (Sherry Cola), Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), and Kat (Stephanie Hsu) -- as they travel across Asia in search of one of their…

Why Age 16+?

Characters drink frequently, including downing shots, which leads to drunkenness

Celebrates sex as something "beautiful" and an important part of your identity a

Cursing is frequent and usually for comic effect: "f--k," "f---ing," "s--t," "as

Violence is infrequent and comic. A young girl punches a boy on the nose for cal

Some characters are wealthy and are seen with limousines, private jets, and othe

Any Positive Content?

Almost the entire cast consists of Asian actors; the narrative is built around a

Underlying the raunchy humor are positive messages about the importance of frien

Each main character is presented as an individual with unique hopes and dreams.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters drink frequently, including downing shots, which leads to drunkenness, throwing up, and making clumsy mistakes. In an extended scene, characters are trapped on a train with drugs and must hide them; they do this by gulping pills of molly, snorting lines of cocaine, and hiding them in their rectums. One character puts cocaine in their rectum in a baggie that later explodes; they seemingly suffer no consequences beyond experiencing a fantastic high.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Celebrates sex as something "beautiful" and an important part of your identity and happiness. Many scenes feature explicit talk about sex (including descriptions of acts and body parts), as well as sex scenes in which characters are seen moving in rhythm and making suggestive noises. A character has group sex that they refer to afterward in positive terms; another has consequence-free casual sex that they also feel good about. Brief scene of comic nudity in which a character's vagina is seen from the front, covered with a large tattoo. Also a brief glimpse of buttocks.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Cursing is frequent and usually for comic effect: "f--k," "f---ing," "s--t," "ass," and "bitch." Vulgar sexual language ("d--k," "p---y"), and racist language (a boy calls two girls "ching chongs").

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Violence is infrequent and comic. A young girl punches a boy on the nose for calling them and their friend a racist name.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Some characters are wealthy and are seen with limousines, private jets, and other trappings of wealth.

Diverse Representations

Almost the entire cast consists of Asian actors; the narrative is built around a twenty-something Asian American woman who's far from a stereotype and is presented as a full person with an identity and goals. An adoptee storyline is central to the film, and the cast is diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, gender expression, sexual identity, and body type. Co-star Sabrina Wu is non-binary; Stephanie Hsu and Sherry Cola are also out LGBTQ+ actors. Director Adele Lim is Malaysian American and co-writers include Thai American and Chinese American writers.

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Positive Messages

Underlying the raunchy humor are positive messages about the importance of friends, the value of emotional support, and the way cultural identity is connected with your inner sense of self. Sincerity, perseverance, kindness, and respect are all important themes.

Positive Role Models

Each main character is presented as an individual with unique hopes and dreams. Each also has enough screen time to make viewers empathize and root for them. Audrey is the film's main character, but Deadeye is the most vulnerable, and the one who's most honest about their emotions. Characters grow, change, and become more fully realized and emotionally mature over the course of the movie.

Parents need to know that Joy Ride is a crude, hilarious road movie with strong language, sexual humor, drinking, and drugs. It follows a group of four friends -- Audrey (Ashley Park), Lolo (Sherry Cola), Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), and Kat ( Stephanie Hsu ) -- as they travel across Asia in search of one of their birth mothers. The movie is raunchy but upbeat, with positive themes of friendship, identity, and the value of connections to others. Sexual content is frequent and mature. It includes group sex between a woman and two men (moaning, rhythmic movements), and there's lots of talk about sex and bodies, especially from one character who's proud of her active, positive sex life. There are also scenes in which characters vomit after drinking and one in which they hide drugs from law enforcement by taking cocaine and molly, as well as hiding it in an orifice. Cursing includes variants of "f--k," as well as sexual language like "p---y" and "d--k." One character punches another in the face for saying something racist. The cast is mainly composed of East Asian actors and has diversity in terms of age, ethnicity, sexual identity, gender expression, and body type. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Based on 3 parent reviews

Verbal Porn

What's the story.

Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola) were the only Chinese kids in their town growing up, and they relied on each other for staunch support. Now adults, they're still best friends, with Lolo even living in Audrey's garage while she tries to jump-start her art career. But their friendship is tested when Audrey must travel to China for business and decides to search for her birth mother, bringing along Lolo, her awkward cousin Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), and college bestie Kat ( Stephanie Hsu ). During their wild JOY RIDE, the four encounter vengeful drug dealers, horny basketball players, and dismissive grandmas.

Is It Any Good?

Unapologetically raunchy, hilarious, and full of sweet moments and unexpected heart, this film's vibe and mission are perhaps made most clear by its original working title: The Joy F--k Club. Like the highly respected film The Joy Luck Club , Joy Ride 's cast consists almost entirely of actors of Asian descent. But unlike the 1993 film, this one features a scene in which a lead character conceals cocaine from law enforcement by jamming it in her rectum. In a movie with less fizzy humor and genuine emotion, such a scene would be unbearably crass. But here, it's all part of the silly, occasionally surreal, and ultimately affecting adventure. It's also just one of many comedic scenes that could have easily gone south in less capable hands. In addition, the serious moments that tackle racism, identity, and the inestimable value of supportive friends bring a gravity that keeps the audience invested.

Wu's Deadeye has some of the most powerful emotional moments, such as a scene in which they cop to being "weird" and "socially awkward," but even so, they're still pained by rejection. "I don't have any friends," Deadeye admits, and Audrey, who had always looked down on Deadeye, is visibly moved by the revelation and their emotional honesty. There are other scenes that will get viewers misty, like when characters admit their fears and limitations and friends dole out hugs and support. There are also knowing cultural gags, such as when a rich businessman promises a party will have "Gift bags, oranges, Teslas, and Bitcoin." It all adds up to a deliriously enjoyable ride that audiences will want to go on again and again.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Joy Ride portrays drinking and drug use . Were there any real-life consequences? Did the movie judge those used substances? How could you tell?

How is sex depicted? Did you think the graphic sex talk was meant to be realistic or shocking? What's the difference? What values were imparted?

Talk about the strong language used in the movie. Did it seem necessary or excessive? What did it contribute to the movie?

The movie is a Hollywood studio feature built around an almost all-Asian/Asian American cast. Why is that notable? Why does representation matter in media?

How did the characters defy stereotypes, both in terms of ethnicity and gender? What made Audrey a positive female character? Why is it important for kids to see a wide range of behavior from both genders in the media they consume?

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 7, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : September 12, 2023
• Cast : Ashley Park , Stephanie Hsu , Sherry Cola
• Director : Adele Lim
• Inclusion Information : Female directors, Asian directors, Female actors, Asian actors, Bisexual actors, Queer actors, Female writers, Asian writers
• Studio : Lionsgate
• Genre : Comedy
• Topics : Friendship
• Character Strengths : Integrity , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 95 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : strong and crude sexual content, language throughout, drug content and brief graphic nudity
• Last updated : May 24, 2024

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Review: The exuberantly rude ‘Joy Ride’ gives its stars the raunch-pad they deserve

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A good gross-out gag is hardly a novelty in mainstream comedies, but there’s one in “Joy Ride” that made my stomach almost — almost — flip in solidarity. It happens in a Beijing nightclub where Audrey (Ashley Park), an American lawyer wooing a potential client (Ronny Chieng), is invited, or rather pressured, to enjoy a well-known local delicacy with a slurpable twist. “Are thousand-year-old-egg cocktails really a thing?” I wondered in ignorance and horror, thinking of all the dark, gelatinous egg chunks I’d left in my own congee bowls as a kid, despite my parents’ insistence that I should eat them and like them. Would a shot of liquor have made them more palatable? I don’t know; I’ll never know. But in that moment, Audrey’s revulsion, to say nothing of her bad-Asian guilt, were very much my own.

You might guess some of what happens next. Audrey projectile-vomits all over the client-to-be, enduring the kind of squirmy ritual humiliation that awaits many an insecure, tightly wound comedy protagonist. But “Joy Ride,” an amusingly rude and high-spirited romp from the debuting director Adele Lim (a co-writer on “Crazy Rich Asians” ), has a way of turning predictable story beats into spiky, revealing cultural distinctions.

You’ve seen a lot of strait-laced overachievers learn to lighten up and cut loose on-screen. You’ve seen fewer like Audrey, who was adopted in China and raised in America by white parents, and who’s now visiting her birth country for the first time with friends who are more laid-back, in part, because they’re better versed in the culture and language than she is. (“I’m just a garbage American who only speaks English,” Audrey admits in a moment of drunken confession.) And so the group dynamics are rooted in the usual differences of temperament and personality, yes, but also in nuances of personal upbringing and diasporic experience. This journey really does take Audrey on a journey.

The closest of her traveling companions is Lolo (Sherry Cola), her best pal since they first met as kids in a predominantly white Washington state suburb. A disarmingly funny childhood prologue — there’s a racist slur, a choice expletive and some swift, brutal playground fisticuffs — establishes the characters and their inseparably complementary dynamic. Lolo is the brassy, foul-mouthed, uninhibited one; she grows up to be an artist specializing in sexually explicit sculptures, many of which riff cleverly on the Chinese culture she knows intimately well. The more responsible Audrey, always eager to please and to prove herself, is an attorney in the fast lane, a lone Asian American female powerhouse surrounded by white men in suits (including Timothy Simons as her boss, serving up a sly caricature of performative allyship).

Lolo strengthens Audrey’s pluck and confidence; Audrey gives Lolo encouragement and a roof over her head. And so it’s unsurprising, if ill-advised, when Audrey brings Lolo along as her personal translator on a high-stakes overseas business trip. It’s also the kind of easy-to-swallow, conveniently friendship-testing contrivance that abounds in Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao’s script, including Audrey’s decision to spend her high-stakes overseas business trip searching for her long-lost birth mother. Tagging along for the ride is Lolo’s non-binary cousin (Sabrina Wu), a K-pop obsessive who’s nicknamed Deadeye for their combination of affectless stares and goofy grins. And then there’s Audrey’s old college pal Kat ( Stephanie Hsu ), an actor with a popular Chinese soap-opera gig and a super-Christian fiancé (Desmond Chiam) from whom she’s trying to hide her long list of past sexual partners.

Hsu received an Oscar nomination earlier this year for her melancholy supporting turn in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a role that only moderately prepares you for her welcome display of randy comic gusto and killer timing here. She and Cola supply much of the story’s comic energy early on, some of it predicated on Kat and Lolo’s mutual loathing and some of it on their raging libidos. The raucousness proves infectious as Audrey, Lolo, Kat and Deadeye embark on a wild trek through the Chinese countryside, becoming reluctant mules for a drug dealer (Meredith Hagner) one minute, and hooking up with some hunky professional athletes the next.

Along the way, Audrey’s most shortsighted assumptions — the way she shies away from the locals she can’t understand and gravitates toward the white English speakers she occasionally encounters — are productively and amusingly upended. Lim and her writers have a knack for casual subversion, whether they’re flooding the screen with ripped Asian male torsos or staging a bubble-gum-hued K-pop-style Cardi B cover. Or, in a moment that will cause heads in every theater to nod in unison, suggesting that few people are more racist, in the end, than Asians are toward other Asians.

Beneath all the sexual-scatological shenanigans, the cocaine enemas and the cunnilingual injuries, there’s a familiar, even dutiful representational strategy at play. If comedies like “Bridesmaids” and “Girls Trip” were lauded, justly if somewhat reductively, for suggesting that women (white and Black, respectively) could be as funny and hard-R raunchy as their slovenly white-male counterparts in, say, “The Hangover” movies, “Joy Ride” means to accomplish something similarly liberating for Asian American female and gender-nonconforming characters everywhere. It also means to tear away the stereotypical veil of docility and propriety in which such characters have too often been presented, to the extent that they’ve been presented at all.

None of which, however well-intended, makes the movie a success by default. To love rude, regressive humor is to know there’s a danger in reducing it to a crude competitive sport or, worse, a declaration of intent. But while “Joy Ride” has its borderline-mechanical moments — a vigorous sex-a-thon montage is both amusing and overly calculated — it moves too swiftly and good-humoredly, for the most part, to fall into this trap for long. It also has actors who, even when cleaving to their characters’ broadest outlines or going for obvious, outlandish laughs, simply possess too much warmth and emotional vibrancy to ever seem one-note.

The joy of “Joy Ride” is certainly there in the sexual repartee, the caustic insults and the foul-mouthed zingers, all of which Lim paces with nary-a-wasted-moment velocity. But it’s also there in the warmly inviting smile that steals across Cola’s face as her Lolo talks about sex as a universal ideal, a source of affirmation rather than shame. Or the way Wu’s face lights up when Deadeye talks about why they like K-pop so much, since it’s the rare thing that actually likes them back. Park, in some ways, gives the trickiest performance as Audrey, the straight woman here in every sense: She has to singlehandedly carry “Joy Ride” through its inevitable, conventional tonal shift from sassy to sentimental, from fallout to reconciliation. She’s egg-ceptional.

'Joy Ride'

Rating: R, for strong and crude sexual content, language throughout, drug content and brief graphic nudity Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes Playing: Starts July 7 in general release

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'Joy Ride' review: Summer's raunchiest comedy goes hard on sex, drugs and K-pop

The dudes of “The Hangover” walked so the women of “Bridesmaids” and “Girls Trip” could run, leading now to the talented cast of “Joy Ride” causing all manner of raunchy international chaos.

Four very different Asian American friends go on a gut-busting trip to Beijing that explodes tropes and stereotypes and bursts with heart in the smartly paced, fabulously unhinged and proudly explicit comedy (★★★½ out of four, rated R, in theaters Friday), the directorial debut for “Crazy Rich Asians” writer Adele Lim. It’s the kind of film where everybody will have their own favorite characters and riotous episodes but it doesn’t need A-list cameos or needle drops to make a mark – though it does boast one instantly memorable K-pop remix of a Cardi B hit.

Ashley Park stars as Audrey, a successful lawyer adopted from China as a little girl by white parents. She and her childhood friend Lolo (Sherry Cola), a trash-talking free spirit making sex-positive art while living in Audrey’s backyard, have long talked about one day finding Audrey’s birth mother, and an opportunity arises on a business trip to Beijing to do that plus land an important deal.

Lolo comes along as a translator (since Audrey isn’t fluent in Chinese) and brings her awkward BTS-loving cousin Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), and they meet up with Kat (recent Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu ), Audrey’s college bestie who’s now an A-list Chinese soap-opera star . The quartet hit the road seeking Audrey's long-lost parent and dive into a series of madcap shenanigans, from doing an excessive amount of drugs to meeting up with ex-NBA star Baron Davis to disguising themselves as a K-pop quartet called Brownie Tuesday just to catch a plane. (And that’s just the stuff we can mention in a family newspaper, folks.)

But what makes “Joy Ride” special is getting to know the personalities and their quirks, with each of the four main characters wrestling with identity issues and needing a dose of self-discovery. Audrey feels out of place both at home and in China. Lolo has big artistic dreams she worries never will come to fruition, and because she's a bit of a slacker, she frets about losing her lifelong connection with her ambitious BFF. Kat is engaged to her hunky and deeply devout co-star, who's saving himself for marriage, yet the image-conscious actress hasn’t told him of her far-from-virginal past. And Deadeye is a sweet beatboxing sort struggling with her insecurities who desperately holds on to anything resembling friendship.

'Past Lives': Why the romantic drama is one of the year's best films

The primary cast is spot-on from top to bottom, but Cola is a delight to watch letting loose with her character’s riotous side – she’s also impressive in the upcoming Sundance Film Festival comedy “Shortcomings” – and Wu is a nonbinary stand-up comedian with flawless timing. “Lost” fans will adore a stellar supporting turn from Daniel Dae Kim: He misses all the sex-fueled revelry but shows up late in the proceedings for the most heartfelt scenes.

Like last year’s Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once ” and this year’s “Past Lives” and “Return to Seoul” – albeit with more threesomes, tattooed genitalia and slap fights – “Joy Ride” is a superbly crafted film that centers on and celebrates Asian people and culture yet also is wholly relatable on a wider scale. Everybody’s had an Audrey, Lolo, Kat and/or Deadeye come into their lives, perhaps even akin to the four forces of nature here. And with this group of hilarious stars and thoughtful filmmakers, the hard-R comedy couldn’t be in better hands.

'Everything Everywhere' sweep: A long-awaited, well-deserved win for Asian Americans

Joy Ride Review: A Hilariously Raunchy and Heartfelt Road Trip

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An adopted millennial lawyer, libidinous bestie, socially awkward cousin, and famed "good girl" actress embark on a raunchy road trip through China to find the latter's birth mother. Joy Ride gives an Asian female perspective to the sex-fueled, cocaine-snorting, and boozy antics usually seen in juvenile frat boy comedies. The gross-out gags intermingle with a heartfelt narrative about finding belonging in friends and family. The laughs come fast and furious until more subdued themes take hold. Not all of it works, but the film succeeds in being thoughtful and risqué.

In 1998 White Hills, Washington, Jenny (Debbie Fan) and Wey (Kenneth Liu) Chen scoff at their new neighbors while escorting young Lolo (Chloe Pun) to the playground. The Chens are initially offended when a White couple, Mary (Annie Mumolo) and Joe (David Denman) Sullivan, ask if they're Chinese. The mood changes when the Sullivans introduce their adopted Chinese daughter, Audrey (Lennon Yee). The girls become instant best friends when Lola defends Audrey from racist bullies.

The years pass with an inseparable Audrey and Lolo following different academic paths. Audrey (Ashley Park) , often ridiculed for being adopted and Asian, becomes a successful lawyer. Lolo (Sherry Cola) lives in her backyard guest house and designs sex toy art. Audrey is the only Asian woman in a law firm of White men. Her aggressive, politically correct boss (Timothy Simons) gives Audrey an opportunity to make partner and move to Los Angeles. She will travel to China and sign Chao (Ronny Chieng), a wealthy businessman.

Ashley Park as Audrey

Audrey can't speak a lick of Mandarin. She decides to bring Lolo along as a translator. Audrey's stunned at the airport when Lolo's weird, K-pop loving cousin Vanessa (Sabrina Wu), aptly nicknamed Deadeye, tags along. They land in Beijing and immediately go to a television studio. Kat (Stephanie Hsu), Audrey's formerly promiscuous college roommate, has become a star portraying chaste characters. Lolo despises Kat as they've always competed for Audrey's attention. She also has a novel idea of what to do after the meeting. They should search for Audrey's birth mother and find out why she gave her child up for adoption.

Related: These Are the Raunchiest Animated Movies For Adults

Joy Ride drops f-bombs from the literal open and continues to be profane throughout. The characters spew vulgarities like drunken sailors on a bender. Screenwriters Cherry Chevapravatdumrong ( Family Guy, The Orville ) and Teresa Hsiao (co-creator of Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens ) set provocative expectations early. These aren't Asian women stereotyped as docile, compliant, and demure. Ashley and the gang have raging sex drives. They love to party and aren't ashamed of getting dirty with multiple men...sometimes at once.

The film gleefully challenges any notion of carnal restraint, but also depicts how some Asian women pretend to be virtuous to satisfy patriarchal norms. Kat's burgeoning career is based on a cultivated image of purity. He co-star fiancé (Desmond Chiam) is a celibate Christian saving himself for marriage. He has no clue about her sordid past or libertine impulses. A running joke about Kat's secret tattoo symbolizes her forced discretion. She's not free to be herself without risking love and employment.

Big Trouble in China

Audrey faces a different dilemma. Her Asian friends consider her to be ethnically White. It's a slight for sure but indicative of her upbringing. Audrey was raised by White parents without any real foothold in Chinese culture. This made her an outcast in every setting. She's not comfortable in her own skin. A frank scene has Audrey looking around in China and sighing with relief. She was finally just a part of the crowd, but soon learns that's not acceptance.

Joy Ride goes overboard with silliness. Adele Lim, known for writing Crazy Rich Asians and Raya the Last Dragon , is uneven in her feature directorial debut. Her characters are richly realized but stray into goofy territory; the line between funny and dumb is razor-thin. The film has fantasy cut scenes where the cast pretends to be K-pop stars. Lim mocks zealous BTS fan worship but repeatedly lingers for too long. There's an art to knowing when the laughter stops.

Related: Best American Movies with an Ensemble Cast of Asian Characters, Ranked

White people and WASP culture in general get a merciless ribbing. This may be divisive depending on your point of view. Some may say just deserts. Hollywood has lampooned and racially insulted Asians from its beginning. A little comeuppance is welcome, fair play, and probably deserved. Others will state that Lim could never get away with treating Blacks or Jews in a similar manner. My response is that art can be offensive, but there's obviously no ill will or racist intent here. Let's turn down the sensitivity dial and appreciate the film's message.

A Tearjerker Finale

Lim wraps female empowerment and Asian pride in a naughty blanket. It's not flawless, but Joy Ride will have audiences laughing and possibly crying. A tearjerker finale reminds how adoption changes lives for the better. Audrey's wonderful parents and friends have given her every opportunity...to have threesomes.

Joy Ride is a production of Point Grey Pictures and Red Mysterious Hippo. It will be released theatrically on July 7th from Lionsgate .

• Movie and TV Reviews
• Joy Ride (2023) (2023)

Joy Ride Review

It's been a good few years since we’ve had a truly outlandish group-vacation comedy, one that has reached the scatological heights of Bridesmaids — but Joy Ride is a worthy successor. No bodily fluid, orifice or taboo is left untouched in Adele Lim’s audacious directorial debut, and though it may test your limit for gross-out humour, the film engages with more than just comedy. Come for the laughs, stay for the thoughtful deconstruction of Asian identity against a world that wants to categorise people of colour in rudimentary boxes.

As the only two Asian kids in the white suburb of White Hills, Seattle, Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola) become fast friends when the latter punches the local playground racist. That connection based on mutual protection carries into their adult lives: Lolo is a struggling, body-positive artist living out of Audrey’s garage; Audrey has an important work trip to China that promises a cushy promotion at her law firm, and brings Lolo along as her translator and support system. Also joining the ride are Lolo’s cousin Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), an earnest K-pop stan nicknamed for their vacant stare, and Audrey’s college bestie Kat (Stephanie Hsu), a local celebrity in China for her starring role in a costume drama.

Their holiday gets uprooted when Lolo encourages Audrey, who was adopted from China, to find her birth mother. On the surface, Joy Ride is not so distant from this year’s Return To Seoul , the superb drama about an adoptee’s struggle to reconcile her heritage with the person she’s become — except that Lim’s film is bolstered by a heaping sprinkle of threesomes, vomit, and cocaine rammed up arseholes. The Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg-produced film initially coasts along on provocatively uproarious set-pieces — a frantic run-in with a drug dealer, an aggressive sexcapade with a touring basketball team — though not all of it works. An improvised, candy-coloured rendition of ‘WAP’ falls flat before it has even started.

Establishes its own identity by filtering insightful commentary through refreshingly crude humour.

Being an entirely Asian-led comedy, Joy Ride inherently has more baggage than the whiter raunch-fests of past (think The Hangover ). There’s a silent mission statement in Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao’s layered screenplay: to defy the tired tropes surrounding Asian women, who are too often portrayed as docile, innocent submissives. That description, rightly, could never fit Audrey, Lolo, Kat and Deadeye. (The latter, while never outright stated, is suggested to be non-binary.) They have sex, take copious substances, and run rampant across China and beyond. There’s something liberating in just simply watching these people be explicitly themselves.

It helps that the cast is so infectiously charming. Park dutifully plays the straight-woman to her more eclectic troupe of besties. And Hsu is just as much a stand-out here as she was in Everything Everywhere All At Once , this time playing a horndog actor feigning celibacy for her Bible-thumping fiancé. She’s heroically game to wholly embody the ways the film tests her character’s frustrated libido.

As with Crazy Rich Asians , which counts Lim as a co-writer, Joy Ride unfurls and expands the nuances of Asian identity. The jokes strike a fine line between specificity and universality; such is the case when Audrey attempts to impress an important client by chugging down a century egg. She bristles at accusations that she’s assimilated so well that she’s “basically white”, but for all the jabs aimed her way for her love of Mumford & Sons and Succession , Audrey’s “whiteness” speaks to the varying shades of the diasporic experience. There’s an uneasy friction, too: the isolation Audrey feels for not speaking the language or appreciating the food — like misunderstanding the inside joke everyone but you laughs at.

That, in turn, introduces an inverted dynamic into the group. Audrey, a perennial over-achiever who can easily code-switch at an office squash match with her all-white colleagues, straggles behind her Chinese-speaking friends in her own motherland.

For all of Joy Ride ’s coked-up debauchery, that all fades away in a sentimental third act that’s earned, if conventional. Lim’s film faithfully fits the template of Bridesmaids and the like, but it establishes its own identity by filtering insightful commentary through refreshingly crude humour. Clichés be damned: it’s a joy.

True to its title, Emer Reynolds’ “Joyride” holds both the thrills of getting away with something and the emotional crash that follows a burst of adrenaline—a mood killjoy, if you will. Fortunately, it’s in this sweet-hearted movie’s favor that the highs are stronger and more enjoyable than the lows. It may not come together as smoothly as the best feel-good movies of its kind, but there’s an unwieldy charm to “Joyride” that makes the trip memorable. 

At a cancer memorial fundraiser for his mom, 13-year-old Mully ( Charlie Reid ) catches his dad James ( Lochlann O'Mearáin ) stealing donations. It’s for the family, he insists, but Mully isn’t convinced. He snatches the wad of bills and takes off, jumping into a cab and driving away with it. Until that is, there’s a snore from the backseat and then a baby’s cry. He unintentionally picked up Joy ( Olivia Colman ), an uptight solicitor on her way to give her new baby away to her sister. Both on the run from painful memories, hurtful parental figures, and at some point, local authorities, Mully and Joy make unlikely travel companions as they sort themselves out.  

Reynolds, an experienced editor-turned-director, and writer Ailbhe Keogan thread a thin line between the pair’s heartbreaking confessions and the various bumps on the road. Some detours are funny, some are somber, and a few are a bit off-kilter, like a street parade where people in intimidating burlap costumes dance around Mully at a delayed, dreamy speed. He’s not dreaming, nor under the influence; it’s just a surreal moment, complete with an oversized babydoll head being carried in the street. It’s a bit on-the-nose overall, but not as much as a contrived moment on a plane when Joy is trying to leave, and the passengers rally around her like in a classic romantic comedy. Unfortunately, some of these stranger moments between heartfelt scenes throw off the tone and feel like ideas imported from another movie. 

However, other visual qualities of Reynolds’ “Joyride” are more holistic. Her collaboration with cinematographer James Mather creates a vivid sense of the Irish countryside and seaside. The film keeps gorgeous details of a foggy day as the characters walk among endless green hills and stalks of barley bouncing in the wind. As they wait to take the ferry, the blueness of the water seems to leap off the screen. The sun enters a window with a lovely glow in a boarding house’s kitchen. Even if an emotional scene may be tough to watch, their images are usually eye-catching. 

The heart and soul of “Joyride” are the two mismatched travelers brought to life by Reid and Colman’s performances. Although plenty world-weary after landing with his self-absorbed father, Mully still has childlike moments of rebellion and innocence. In one tender moment at a gas station, he plays with a musical, dancing toy, and he mimics its moves. Joy watches from afar while holding her baby and smiles as if both taking in the silly moment and perhaps thinking of her own baby’s future playtime. In a sense, she is haunted by her mother’s lifelong antipathy and is afraid she will similarly fail this child she doesn’t want. Colman’s body language here is not too dissimilar to Charlie Chaplin’s the Tramp in “ The Kid ,” acting as if almost physically allergic to holding a baby, let alone keeping it. Absent a maternal figure like Mully’s, Joy sometimes relies on Mully for caretaking advice since he has experience watching over younger relatives. They are both grieving their lost mothers and learning to step up for the sake of others. 

The shared bond between Mully and Joy keeps “Joyride” together, with their tug-of-war over the steering wheel building trust between the two. They are both determined to move forward but must deal with their not-too-distant past, and they learn they can rely on each other when other parental figures have failed them. “Joyride” may be tame in some respects, but it’s a gentle movie about forgiveness, love, and learning to cope with unplanned disruptions in someone’s life.  

Now playing in theaters and available on VOD. 

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo is a critic, journalist, programmer, and curator based in New York City. She is the Senior Film Programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center and a contributor to  RogerEbert.com .

• Olivia Colman as Joy
• Charlie Reid as Mully
• Lochlann O’Mearáin as James
• Olwen Fouéré as Sideline Sue
• Florence Adebambo as Catherine
• Tommy Tiernan as Ferryman
• Alibhe Keogan
• Emer Reynolds

Cinematographer

• James Mather
• Tony Cranstoun

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‘Joy Ride’ is Filled with Raunchy Jokes, Laugh-Out-Loud Moments, and a Heartfelt Story

Amidst the raunchy jokes about sex and drugs, ‘Joy Ride’ also serves up an emotional story about friendship and self discovery

(L to R) Stephanie Hsu as Kat, Sherry Cola as Lolo, Ashley Park as Audrey, and Sabrina Wu as Deadeye in 'Joy Ride.' Photo: Ed Araquel/Lionsgate. © 2023 Lionsgate

Go on a girls’ trip of a lifetime in Adele Lim’s comedy ‘ Joy Ride ,’ filled with hilarious and raunchy jokes and tons of heartfelt moments. Receiving glowing reviews after its premiere at SXSW , the film will hit theaters on July 7th.

The story of ‘Joy Ride’ follows Audrey, Lolo, Kat, and Deadeye as they embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international trip. While in China, Lolo convinces Audrey to search for her birth mom, but a series of mishaps throws everything off-course and tests their friendship.

The movie stars Ashley Park (‘ Beef ’) as Audrey, Sherry Cola (‘ Shortcomings ’) as Lolo, Stephanie Hsu (‘ Everything Everywhere All At Once ’) as Kat, and Sabrina Wu as Deadeye. Directed by Adele Lim and written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Teresa Hsiao, and Adele Lim.

Initial Thoughts

Based on the red band trailer for ‘Joy Ride,’ one may go into this movie thinking it’s a comedy in the same vein as ‘ The Hangover ,’ ‘ Bridesmaids ,’ or ‘ Girls Trip .’ The film has plenty of hilarious and shocking moments, but at its core, it is about the strength of friendship and the journey of self-discovery. This movie will have audiences laughing out loud and crying their eyes out, all at the same time.

Story, Direction, and Representation

Director Adele Lim on the set of 'Joy Ride.' Photo Courtesy of Lionsgate. Copyright © 2023 Lionsgate.

The screenplay written by Adele Lim, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, and Teresa Hsiao hits the perfect balance of comedy and heart. We have seen it in many road-tripping comedies - a group of friends go on a trip of a lifetime, a series of unfortunate events throw everything into chaos, and hilarity ensues. But ‘Joy Ride’ doesn’t put jokes in it just for the sake of being raunchy or shocking. Yes, there are moments that’ll make you belly laugh and slightly uncomfortable, and it’s what makes this movie fun. But Lim knew when the jokes had run its course and didn’t feel the need to rehash it until it was no longer funny.

Some of the best moments to watch for are the interaction between the four friends - Audrey, Lolo, Deadeye, and Kat. The four leads have fantastic chemistry and comedic timing, which elevates the movie. Lolo is Audrey’s childhood best friend and is going on the trip as her interpreter since Audrey doesn’t speak Chinese. Lolo’s unapologetic personality directly juxtaposes Audrey’s “play-by-the-rules” nature and sometimes causes the group to get in trouble. Then there’s the tension between Lolo and Kat - Audrey’s best friend (and roommate) from college who is a famous actress in China. The two constantly bickered and tried to one-up each other for who was a better friend to Audrey. This leads to a hysterical moment at the bar where Audrey is supposed to close her business deal.

(L to R) Stephanie Hsu as Kat, Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, Ashley Park as Audrey, and Sherry Cola as Lolo in 'Joy Ride.'

Sabrina Wu’s Deadeye is perhaps the quietest member of the group - and the funniest. Their quirky and shy disposition almost makes them the outsider of the group, but it’s also their sincere and earnest demeanor that makes them the heart of the group.

As most of the film takes place in China, plenty of Chinese is spoken. And as someone who is bilingual, hearing Chinese in a film always feels comforting, but hearing the jokes in Chinese got some of the biggest laughs out of me.

An R-rated comedy about a group of friends going on a road trip isn’t new - but having four Asian female leads being raunchy and loud breaks the stereotype that Asian women are reserved. In ‘Joy Ride’, the women take the rein on their sexuality and identity, unapologetically.

Related Article: Stephanie Hsu and Ashley Park Discuss Universality of 'Joy Ride'

A heartfelt story about self-identity and self discover.

(L to R) Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, Sherry Cola as Lolo, Stephanie Hsu as Kat, Ashley Park as Audrey, and in 'Joy Ride.' Photo: Ed Araquel/Lionsgate. © 2023 Lionsgate.

In ‘Joy Ride,’ the story centers on Ashley Park’s character Audrey. As a Chinese adoptee growing up in a mostly-white town, she never connected to her roots. Her business trip to China allows her to look for her birth mother, and at Lolo’s behest, she agrees to look for her.

As the film goes on, we learn that Audrey often feels she doesn’t belong - she doesn't feel Asian because she doesn’t speak the language or have any other connection to her roots. Her friends joke about her being white, except that she’s not. “I don’t belong anywhere,” Audrey says in the movie as her frustration finally gets the best of her.

Audrey’s struggle with identity rings true for many Asian Diaspora, often being told they don’t belong here or there. Navigating this space can be quite lonely because no matter how close-knit the family or circle of close friends, they’ll say, “You’re not really Chinese” because they’ve grown up in the United States or vice versa. For me, seeing the character go through that experience feels validating, and it gave the movie an unexpected but welcoming emotional tone.

Final Thoughts

‘Joy Ride’ is the funniest movie of the year. The jokes are well-timed and hilarious, and the tender moments between the friends will tug at your heartstring. Lim, Chevapravatdumrong, and Hsiao know when to get raunchy and when to get serious without it feeling cheesy. They struck the perfect balance between comedy and emotional moments, and it’s so satisfying to watch.

‘Joy Ride’ receives 9 out of 10 stars.

(L to R) Sabrina Wu as Deadeye, Ashley Park as Audrey, Stephanie Hsu as Kat and Sherry Cola as Lolo in 'Joy Ride.' Photo: Ed Araquel/Lionsgate. © 2023 Lionsgate.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Joy Ride:’

• ' The Hangover ' (2009)
• ' Bridesmaids ' (2011)
• ‘ Neighbors ' (2014)
• ' Girls Trip ' (2017)
• ' Crazy Rich Asians ' (2018)
• ' Blockers ' (2018)
• ' Good Boys ' (2019)
• ' Long Shot ' (2019)'
• ' Raya and the Last Dragon ' (2021)
• ' Everything Everywhere All at Once ' (2022)

Buy Tickets: 'Joy Ride' Movie Showtimes

Buy stephanie hsu movies on amazon.

‘Joy Ride’ is produced by Lionsgate, Point Grey Pictures, and Red Mysterious Hippo. It is set to release in theaters on July 7th, 2023.

Wendy Lee was born and raised in Taiwan. She later moved to Florida for school and eventually made her way to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment. She's an actor, host, and content creator. She has appeared on Collider Movie News, Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong Podcast, Focus Feature's You Know That Scene, Nerdist News Talks Back, and more. She runs the YouTube channel The Movie Couple covering movie and entertainment news, movie and tv show reviews, and more.

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Where to Watch

Watch Joyride with a subscription on Hulu, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Olivia Colman's performance is enough to carry Joyride over a few miles of credulity-straining incident, but this rickety road trip runs out of fuel long before it reaches its final destination.

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The First ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Reviews Are Torn On Whether The Movie Is Needed But Are Still Overjoyed It Exists

It has been over 35 years since Michael Keaton debuted his otherworldly entity known as Beetlejuice , and he didn’t really know if people wanted to see the character again.

“The only thing I worried about was, should we have left it alone? You know?” Keaton told Entertainment Weekly ahead of the premiere. “Should we have just said that: ‘Don’t touch it. Just walk away. Go make your other movies,’ which we did.” But still, Tim Burton and Winona Ryder were on board for a sequel, and it came to life thanks to the addition of Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe. All they needed was another supply of white face powder and some intense eyeliner to bring him back to the world of the living.

In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , Ortega stars as Astrid, Winona Ryder’s stubborn daughter who unintentionally calls for Beetlejuice to return, which he does happily. The sequel seems to have hit a sweet spot with critics who agree that, hey, we didn’t need this, but it’s still kind of nice to have it anyway. Here is what the reviews are saying:

Siddhant Adlakha, IGN :

Tim Burton allows the cast of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to have fun, even if they’re all off in separate movies that barely overlap. Its story is intentionally robbed of dramatic weight, but this makes way for the goofy, imaginative practical effects of Burton’s early days, resulting in a small-scale legacy sequel that doesn’t take itself too seriously (because it doesn’t need to).

Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline :

The first Beetlejuice in 1988 captured imaginations because it was new, unlike anything else and deliciously tasteless while being, to be honest, pretty clunky. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is not clunky. Yes, there are plenty of animation joins that haven’t been smoothed over by CGI. Some of the props look like tat Burton bought in a flea market. But it also has a proper plot, full of twists and turns; a terrific cameo characters supporting the impeccable main cast; a meticulous spoof Italian horror film in the middle of it all; and a climactic musical number in which key cast members mime to Richard Harris’ 1968 pop hit “Macarthur Park” while dancing around a giant cake with icing the exact green of snot.

Barry Levitt, Daily Beast

When it steps back from reality and plumbs the depths of the afterlife, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a lot of fun. The final 10 minutes are tremendous (and tremendously ridiculous) while finally giving Betelgeuse his due, and Burton finds a pitch-perfect ’60s song to resurrect in glorious effect. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice possesses a lot of what has made the original movie a bonafide classic, even if the script forgets that too often.

John Nugent, Empire :

The film is strongest when it remembers it’s a Tim Burton film and has licence to get weird. While it’s slicker and less homemade-feeling than the 1988 vintage, there are still flashes of B-movie brilliance: a stop-motion animation sequence, some delightful shrunken-head prosthetic effects, and two demented birth scenes with the most ghoulish prosthetic baby this side of American Sniper. It’s moments like this, when Burton lets his freak flag truly fly, that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice earns its stripes.

Marshall Shaffer, The Playlist :

The faint scent of intellectual property looms a little too large over Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to call it a true return to form for Tim Burton. But it’s unmistakably a return to joy for a legendary director, and that goes a long way in making this film stand out in a sea of ill-conceived sequels

Stephanie Zacharek, Time :

There’s a lot of plot windup before Beetlejuice, the “trickster demon,” as Lydia describes him, shows up. But when he does, it’s like greeting a decrepit, kvetching old friend, the kind you keep around just for entertainment value. Michael Keaton clearly adores this character; once again, he pours pure love into Beetlejuice’s maniacal, depraved soul.

Ben Croll, The Wrap:

For a film very much anchored in the dominant Hollywood model of undead IP buried in legacy and lore, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” has an appealingly throwback quality – not just for the welcome return of long-missed techniques, but for a sensibility and sense of humor that doesn’t try to keep with the times. Few would mistake “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” for a confessional or particularly self-revealing work, but it does hew closer to that original artistic spark that dimmed once the director became a trademark.

The Guardian ‘s Xan Brooks was a little less excited:

For all its spilling intestines and head-spinning demon babies, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice feels underpowered and throwaway. It’s a likable exercise in nostalgia; a joyride through old haunts. Burton’s underworld caper contains plenty of second-hand spirit; what it craves is fresh blood. What it needs is some substance.

If you feel ready to take on Beetlejuice, you know what to do: just say his name a few times and see if you can get Michael Keaton to show up. He probably will !

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hits theaters on Sept 6.

Is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Good? Rotten Tomatoes Critics Overwhelmingly Agree

After decades of waiting, it's showtime again. "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" will continue the adventures of Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), now grown-up with a paranormal show of her own — and a fiancé, Rory (Justin Theroux), and daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). When her father, Charles (who will not be back in the guise of Jeffrey Jones) , passes away, Lydia comes home to stepmom Delia Deetz (Catherine O'Hara) and Winter River, Connecticut. A dissatisfied, rebellious Astrid discovers the model town in the Maitlands' attic. She soon finds herself lost on the other side, and Lydia must team up with Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), who's busy dodging his vengeful, soul-sucking ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci). Trailing them all is Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe), afterlife detective.

Though it's very early in the going, Rotten Tomatoes critics seem to love "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." Of the 27 critics who have weighed in so far, 21 enjoyed the film enough to give it a positive rating. That's great news that hints the movie might have enough staying power to take it from early September into October, where it could make an additional box office windfall over the Halloween season. But as of this writing, here's what critics think of "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice." 

A lot of the critics are glad the 'Juice is loose ...

Most of the critics weighing in so far are very happy the 'Juice is loose, as hinted by the "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" trailer . Sophie Monks Kaufman of IndieWire called the film "A rollicking yet disciplined supernatural caper with a heart," noting that it sticks true to the film's goth weirdness while adding more heart into the mix. "You'll leave the cinema and return to the world of the living with a spring in your step and a smile on your face," raved Jo-Ann Titmarsh of the London Evening Standard . The BBC's Nicholas Barber even thinks the sequel surpasses its originator in every respect. Some critics feel like this is a big rebound for director Tim Burton after failures like "Alice Through the Looking Glass" and "Dumbo."

Not every positive review was a rave, however.  Empire Online  noted the film's imperfections but praised Michael Keaton's performance. "'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' is no "Beetlejuice," but in the end it's got just enough Burton juice," wrote  Variety's Owen Gleiberman. Many critics simply enjoyed the film for offering an all-out fun time at the theater even if they thought it would be insubstantial in the long term. And that simplicity — and some fan service — resulted in some critics taking hatchets to "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice."

... But some of them wish they hadn't said his name thrice

As with every motion picture, there are a few critical brickbats to be had among the raves. Kevin Maher of The Times wrote that the film is a blah retread. "It's a likable exercise in nostalgia; a joyride through old haunts. Burton's underworld caper contains plenty of second-hand spirit; what it craves is fresh blood. What it needs is some substance," complained The Guardian's  Xan Brooks, who thinks the new characters and plot ideas Tim Burton added into the plot don't go well together.

Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair  opined that the movie is lifeless. "With its limp humor, canned sentiment, and over-egged efforts to gross us out, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a waste of a good cast and a defacement of a classic film's legacy. Most galling of all, it was summoned willingly by people who should know better than to mess with what's long been peacefully laid to rest," he said, adding that there was little effort to maintain the original film's freshness.

Robbie Collin of The Telegraph focused on what he felt was a messy plot with too much fan service. "Throughout, you can hear the writers cackling and high-fiving each other as they crowbar in favourite details from Burton's still hugely entertaining original, regardless of whether their inclusion makes the slightest bit of sense," he commented about the plot's callbacks. 

Will it be a hit or a miss? Fans will get their say when "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" is released to open the fall box office season on September 6.