It’s rare—almost unheard of, in fact—for a Hollywood comedy to be fronted entirely by Asian women and nonbinary people. Yet, that’s exactly what Joy Ride is. Released mid-2023, the film follows the misadventures of four Asian-American friends (played by Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu) across China. It is riotous, hilarious and unabashedly debauched. In short, it is nothing like the meek stereotype that the Western media has historically perpetuated Asian culture to be.
The woman behind it is Malaysian screenwriter and director Adele Lim. While serves as her directorial debut, Lim has long made a name for herself in Hollywood. She was the co-writer of and — both of which made significant strides for Asian representation in international media—and prior to that, wrote for television for nearly two decades.
