Joy Ride

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CULT CRITIC : ★ 7.2

Frequently clever and moving, Adele Lim's expected first time at the Joy Ride goes on the young ladies outing formula in new and familiar directions, breaking boundaries and crossing borders. Meeting as the main two Asian children on the jungle gym in a Norman Rockwell-esque, all-white town in the Pacific Northwest (suitably named White Falls), Audrey and Lolo become quick companions. Lolo's successful parents, on the other hand, accept her as a rebel artist who creates work about sexual liberation in everyday objects, whereas Audrey's adoptive guardians, David Denman, and Annie Mumolo, encourage her to pursue academic pursuits and a career in law. However, they could not be more different.

After 25 years, Lolo (Sherry Cola) lives in the visitor house behind Audrey (Ashley Park), presently a fruitful corporate lawyer who's been dispatched to China to settle a negotiation for her firm. She brings Lolo along as an "interpreter" to assist with settling the negotiation. Along the way, they run into Audrey's college friend Kat, played by Stephanie Hsu, an action movie star who is celebrating years of being in a relationship. Lolo's non-binary K-Pop fan cousin Vanessa, aka Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), is also along for the ride. Her skills and online network will be useful in the future. Lolo's animosity toward Kat shows in the relationship's cracks, but they also come to appreciate each other in truly bizarre situations, demonstrating that they can keep up with some strange customs, such as a drinking game in which wealthy businessmen slap each other until they pass out.

Joy Ride is a hilarious, high-energy film that closely follows the road trip genre before subverting it in its way. She is a rebel artist making work about sexual liberation in everyday objects. There are very few moments that don't work, such as an encounter with an American blonde on a train that is pretty predictable.