A bunch of Asian American-y movies to watch while you’re social distancing!

By Stacy Nguyen
Northwest Asian Weekly

I’ve been binge-watching so many movies! Are you too? As a result, I’ve become a bit of a connoisseur of Asian American-y movies on basic streaming services (so not HBO; stuff that costs $10/month or less).

So what does it mean to be an Asian American-y movie? Basically people have to speak a lot of English in the movie (so, Oscar-winner “Parasite” and other Asian-language foreign films are out!).

Some of the movies below are good movies, some are just entertaining, others are not good, but I still got something out of them. I’ve divided it up for you based on category.

Also, if there’s a movie that you think I should check out, let me know!

Funny stuff

“Bend It Like Beckham”“Bend It Like Beckham”* (2002, streaming on Hulu)
Young Indian girl in London wants to be a soccer player. Her parents are like, hell no. She does it anyway!

“Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”

“Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” (2004, streaming on Netflix)
Before John Cho was my fave and before Kal Penn worked at the White House, they were just two dudes trying to get burgers.

“The Interview”

“The Interview” (2014, streaming on Hulu)
Seth Rogan made a comedy about Kim Jong-un, starring Randall Park. I don’t care what you say, I think this movie is hilarious and valuable.

“Late Night”

“Late Night” (2019, streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
Mindy Kaling tries to platonically romance her boss, Emma Thompson, who is the stuffy English host of a late night talk show. Funny movie, but oh, the feels. They hit unexpectedly hard.

“Ping Pong Playa”

“Ping Pong Playa” (2007, streaming on Tubi for free)
Overgrown man-child tries to beat young children at ping pong to win respect of his parents.

“Seoul Searching”

“Seoul Searching” (2016, streaming on Netflix)
Korean adoptees from all over the world go back to the motherland (South Korea) to get their Korean on. Crazy times ensue. Based on a true story.

*Veers into drama territory at times, but still a comedy, I think?

Romantic comedies

“Always Be My Maybe”

“Always Be My Maybe” (2019, streaming on Netflix)
Ali Wong makes out with Keanu Reeves and Randall Park and looks adorable for more than an hour and a half.

“The Big Sick”

“The Big Sick”* (2017, streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
Semi-autobiographical film about how Kumail Nanjiani met his future wife — right before she fell into a coma.

“Plus One”

“Plus One” (2019, streaming on Hulu)
Millennial rom-com about being your best friend’s plus-one at weddings, only to later figure out you might be in love with each other? Emphasis on Millennial.

“To All The Boys Ive Loved Before”

“To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” / “P.S. I Still Love You” (2018, 2020, streaming on Netflix)
Double feature, about a high school girl discovering her first love through lost art of love letter writing.

“Set It Up”

“Set It Up” (2018, streaming on Netflix)
Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs get set up on a date by their assistants. Zaniness ensues.

*Veers into drama territory at times, but still a comedy, I think?

Action-y

“The Foreigner”

“The Foreigner” (2017, streaming on Netflix)
Jackie Chan being intense and serious and revenge-thirsty, instead of goofy and funny. YES. Here for it!

Sci-Fi

“Advantageous”

“Advantageous” (2015, streaming on Netflix)
In the future, a single Asian mom sells artificial youth. But then is fired from her job because she is too old. To keep making money, she undergoes a procedure that makes her younger and more ethnically ambiguous.

“Snowpiercer”

“Snowpiercer” (2013, streaming on Netflix)
From Oscar-winner Bong Joon-ho! Chris Evans lives on a super depressing and scary train that never stops. If it stops, people die!

Drama

“The Farewell”

“The Farewell” (2019, streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
Awkwafina and film director Lulu Wang shows the world they are forces to be reckoned with in this award-winning movie about not telling your grandma she has cancer.

“Ms. Purple”

“Ms. Purple” (2019, streaming on Hulu)
From director Justin Chon, a film about a brother and sister in Los Angeles caring for their father, when he really needs to be in hospice, after their mother abandons them.

“Oh Lucy”

“Oh Lucy!” (2017, streaming on Hulu)
Do you want to watch middle-aged Japanese office worker Setsuko totally mack on Josh Hartnett and follow him to Los Angeles? Yes, you do.

Horror

“Slumber”

“Slumber” (2017, streaming on Hulu)
Maggie Q is haunted by a demon that kills people while they sleep.

Surprisingly Asian-y

“Downsizing”

“Downsizing” (2017, streaming on Hulu)
This movie is ‘Matt Damon telling us about climate change’ meets “Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.” The surprise though, is scene-stealer Hong Chau, who portrays a Vietnamese refugee and dissident!

Documentaries