On the podcast, Alex recommends Andrew Ahn’s remake/adaptation of the 1993 Ang Lee queer rom-com The Wedding Banquet, which is a film you should watch for many reasons including the sound design.
Today on the podcast, Alex Heeney recommends Andrew Ahn’s delightful remake/reimagining of Ang Lee’s 1993 queer rom-com The Wedding Banquet. Ahn updates the film in a way that takes stock of how much has changed for queer people in the US. Same-sex marriage is legal. Queer people can have children, and there’s a lot more openness. But that doesn’t mean that internal existential issues can’t get in the way!
On the episode, Alex talks about the film as a work of adaptation and how Andrew Ahn queers the story even more. She also highlights the film’s incredible sound design, Ahn’s blocking, and the film’s editing.
About Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet (2025)
In The Wedding Banquet (2025), Lee (Lily Gladstone) and Angela (Kelly Marie-Tran) are trying to start a family. But the IVF treatments aren’t working and they can’t afford a third round. Chris (Bowen Yang) lives in their garage with his boyfriend, Min (Han Gi-chan).
When Min’s student visa is about to expire, he proposes to Chris, who rejects him. Chris is concerned that if they get married, Min’s homophobic super-rich grandfather will cut off Min from the family fortune. But Chris has his own millennial ennui reasons for being not quite ready.
When Lee suggests that Min marry Angela instead—a green card in exchange for the fee for IVF—Angela agrees. What was meant to be a paperwork city hall marriage turns into a big Korean wedding courtesy of Min’s grandmother. The film features stand-out performances from Youn Yuh-jung as Min’s grandmother and Joan Chen as Angela’s mother.
Show Notes on Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet
Listen to Deep Cut Podcast’s interview with Andrew Ahn
Get your copy of our ebook Portraits of Resistance: The Cinema of Céline Sciamma
Podcast Credits for this episode on Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet (2025)
This episode was edited, produced, and recorded by Alex Heeney.
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An AI-generated transcript for the episode is available on Apple Podcasts.
