‘Joy Ride’ Review: Adele Lim’s Racy Debut Starring Stephanie Sue and Ashley Park Examines Sex, Drugs, and Acts of Self-Discovery During Partying – SXSW
Adele Limdebut work of Joyridebesides showing the audience that women know how to party hard, you make your eyes cry.
Screenplay starring Cherry Chevapravatdamrong and Teresa Xiao Ashley Park, Stephanie Sue, Sherry Cora and Sabrina Wu, embark on a global adventure of self-discovery, but also involving drugs, sex and comedy.I didn’t expect anything from the movie originally titled joy fuck clubI think I’m hilarious.
Audrey (Park) is an adopted child raised in an all-white family, and Lolo’s (Cora) parents have just moved from China. Their friendship begins on the playground when Audrey approaches a bully and Rollo punches him in the face. Now an adult, one is an over-the-top workaholic lawyer on the verge of promotion, and one of him is a lazy man making art of human vulva in an attempt to sell his work to the highest bidder. is an artist. Audrey is flying to China to seal a deal with her big client, and at her farewell party, Rollo suggests finding her in China while she is there. As they prepare to leave, Deadeye (Wu) Lolo’s cousin tags along. The last to join the group is Kat (Hsu), Audrey’s old college friend and now a Chinese TV star.
On this night out with a potential client, the girls slip into a stupor, playing slap games, drinking shots of the Millennium Egg, and vomiting all over the place. didn’t phase him. What was alarming was the fact that Audrey didn’t look “real” Asian. To prove this authenticity, the young attorney must present some form of connection to the estate. Rollo blurts out that while her friends are there, she is looking for her biological mother, and agrees to sign her contract once she meets her.
many people will see Joyride It’s a coming-of-age comedy, but at its heart is a story about identity and belonging. Audrey’s search for answers is because, up until this point, he hasn’t explored what adoption means across races. Her friends don’t understand what that means either, but the group creates a space for Audrey to process these new emotions. They are some of the best friends she can ask for, as they constantly check for perpetrated racism and model minorityism.
Raised by white parents, Audrey came to accept racism in order to assimilate into her work. She doesn’t know how to speak her native tongue (many Americanized people don’t), she believes white people are right (based on her choices she made in the train scene). hand). She is unaware of the damage this behavior has to her self-esteem and how it projects onto others. let the have it. Joyride It’s very racy, but also deeply introspective, with the characters taking responsibility for their own actions. It made me cry. Blending comedy, drama, and commentary in a cohesive way works well.
In her first outing as a feature director, Lim was given a surprising amount of cinematic and creative leeway. Directing and cinematography by Paul Yee allows audiences to connect with these relatable characters.
Filming across Asia is no easy feat, but as a first-time director, she has no hesitation in her work and directs each shot with relentless enthusiasm. She believes in stories and their execution. This is essential for artistry, especially when multi-million dollar properties are being filmed on international locations.
Joyride It’s all about the Asian experience, but there’s something for everyone. I would have liked to have seen more of Audrey’s struggles when she discovered information about her mother, and found the ending to be partly rushed, but the script is confident, the direction dynamic, and the cast Chevapravatdumrong, Hsiao and Lim know when to have fun and when to get serious. It’s hard to balance, but they do it effortlessly.What a pleasure to ride!
