Joy Ride is a new comedy hitting theaters on July 7, featuring an all-Asian American leading cast that takes audiences on a wild ride filled with laughs and lots of debauchery.
Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) leads the cast as Audrey, a successful lawyer who unwillingly finds herself on a journey to discover more about her origins while in China after a series of unfortunate events forces her hand. Accompanying her on this trip is her childhood best friend, Lolo, played by Sherry Cola (Good Trouble). Cola brings her superb comedic skills to the role, which is that of an unapologetically outspoken, creative, and free-spirited individual, the total opposite of Audrey’s personality. Joining them on the trip is Deadeye, Lolo’s eccentric K-pop super fan cousin played by stand-up comedian Sabrina Wu. Deadeye initially joins the trip to meet other K-Pop fans in China but ends up helping Audrey and Lolo in their quest to find Audrey’s birth mother. When the trio lands in China, they meet up with Audrey’s college best friend, Kat, played by Academy Award nominee Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once). Kat is a famous Chinese soap opera star with an equally famous fiancée. Kat quickly competes with Lolo for the title of Audrey’s best friend, leading to some of the funniest verbal exchanges in the film. Although the trip is meant to help Audrey discover more about herself and her origins, the quartet of unlikely friends all end up discovering things about themselves while bringing in the laughs along the way.
Other stars joining Joy Ride are Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians), Lori Tan Chinn (Awkwafina is Nora From Queens), David Denman (Greenland), Annie Mumolo (Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar), Desmond Chiam (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Alexander Hodge (Insecure), and Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians).
Joy Ride is very much an R-rated film with some scandalous NSFW content–very raunchy but very funny. The film is not all laughs, though, as it includes emotional scenes that are quite the tear-jerkers. Weaved into all the craziness are stories about the importance of self-love and acceptance.
The film marks the feature directorial debut of Adele Lim, best known for her work as a writer on the highly successful Crazy Rich Asians and Raya and the Last Dragon. Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (Family Guy) and Teresa Hsiao (Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens) wrote the script and also served as producers alongside Lim, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, and Josh Fagen. Rogen and Goldberg’s Point Grey Pictures produced Joy Ride, which falls in line with the type of R-rated comedies they are known for. Lionsgate signed on to produce and distribute the film.
You can catch Joy Ride in theaters.
