Lily Gladstone, Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran, and Han Gi-Chan play besties who orchestrate the ultimate marital ruse in the first trailer for The Wedding Banquet, director Andrew Ahn’s remake of Ang Lee‘s 1993 classic of the same name. Watch below:
Han plays Min, a queer young man from Korea working in the states on a visa who has yet to come out to his family. His commitment-phobic boyfriend Chris (Yang) is afraid to take their relationship to the next level. With his visa soon running out, Min proposes a plan involving friends and couple Lee (Gladstone) and Angela (Tran), who are struggling to conceive a child through a series of unsuccessful and very expensive IVF treatments: a sham marriage to Angela, so he could secure a green card, in exchange for finances for the next round of IVF treatments.
When Min’s skeptical grandmother (Yuh-Jung Youn) makes a surprise visit from Korea — “we’ve got to de-queer the house!” — and insists on throwing the couple an extravagant wedding, however, the scheme — and the core four’s tight knit friendship — begins to unravel.
Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
Joan Chen rounds out the cast as Angela’s mother May, who is aware that her daughter is queer and has positioned herself as an LGBTQ+ ally. Imagine her surprise, then, when she learns of the scheme that’s been concocted. “My daughter! Marrying a man!” an upset May says in the trailer, to which Angela replies, “It’s for a good cause, we’re helping a gay couple stay together.” Elsewhere, at the dinner table, May is instructed to “de-queer” all Instagram posts: Pride parade photos, National Coming Out Day tributes, etc.
“Can I still post Instagram Stories?” she warily asks.
Angela replies, “Do you want grandchildren?”
“I’ll delete Instagram now,” says a deflated May.
Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.
James Schamus, who co-wrote the original screenplay with Lee and Neil Peng, co-penned the remake screenplay with Ahn.
Ahn, a queer Korean American filmmaker, spoke about the significance of the film — namely, the extravagant Korean wedding banquet scene — with Filmmaker Magazine earlier this year. “I’ve spent much of my adulthood coming to terms with how my queer identity would preclude me from participating in these types of Korean rituals, rituals celebrating family, rituals that bring you closer to family,” Ahn said. “By writing and directing this film, I was able to reconcile my queer and Korean identities. With my cast and crew, my friends and family, I got to have a Korean wedding.”
Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
The Wedding Banquet is in theaters April 18.