MOVIE REVIEW: JOY RIDE

JOY RIDE is a movie for girlfriends, emphasizing the beauty of friendship, travels, and heritage.

It’s like watching the female version of Hangover with sprinkled in Crazy Rich Asians.

JOY RIDE marks the feature directorial debut of Crazy Rich Asians and Raya and the Last Dragon screenwriter Adele Lim. Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao penned the JOY RIDE script and also serve as producers alongside Lim, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, and Josh Fagen. The film is produced by Lionsgate and Point Grey Pictures and premiered in early July.

Storyline | Two best friends embark on a trip to China to secure a business deal, but the adventure evolves into the search for a long-lost mother and traveling to South Korea looking for answers. An hour into the movie, all the laughs turn into unexpected tears as one of them learns more about herself and how to love who she is.

The movie trailer gives a peek of the storyline but there are many unpredictable scenes filled with giggles and boisterous laughter.

The start of a collaboration | Those hilarious kinds of friendships inspired Adele Lim, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, and Teresa Hsiao to create JOY RIDE.

By Mary Jeneverre Schultz

No matter our backgrounds, we all have at least one hot mess friend, who is always getting into trouble.

“Cherry, Teresa, and I would go out to dinner, shoot the shit, and talk about all our messed-up, thirsty, ridiculous friends,” Lim says.

“One day, we were cracking ourselves up, thinking that we need to write a movie about this. We don’t know who’s going to want to make this, but it’ll make us happy. So, we would show up to my house every Thursday and break the story, just for the hell of it. And we made ourselves laugh nonstop.”

Comedic actresses | Already, the actresses are making a name for themselves. Ashley Park of Emily in Paris portrays Audrey, the confident lawyer, while her best friend, Lolo, is actress Sherry Cola of Good Trouble. Both actresses play roles in different comedy series.

Then, there is the stand-up comedian, Sabrina Wu, who plays the unforgettable role of Deadeye, while Stephanie Hsu of Everything, Everywhere All At Once takes the role of Kat, opera actress in China and Audrey’s college roommate.

The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the lead performances and humor. See the film in theaters while you can or learn more about the film at: joyride.movie.