My wife and I were able to catch this on the opening night of the Austin Asian American Film Festival on June 23, 2022. Wonderful movie! Lots of creative energy among the cast. The pace is quick, the writing is fantastic, lots of sharp zingers. Most of the credit will go to writer/director Tom Huang and leading lady Ali Maki (as Margaret). However, Page Leong as the prototypical "FOB" Asian mom (Sophie) was also fantastic. That having been said, pretty much everyone was very entertaining. Each actor brought his/her own special energy to the role. The result sparkled!
After the show, we were lucky enough to have director Tom Huang and actor Dana Lee (as the difficult Dad) for a live question and answer session. They discussed the background of the story in Tom Huang's own experiences, but also the kind of interesting network-of-friends process for assembling the cast and the personal perspectives that each actor brought to the movie - not to mention the arduous filming conditions at the height of the pandemic. My take away was that this movie is a great example of the adage that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Particularly highly recommended for Asian immigrants, Asian Americans, and others who have married into the community. However, I think this movie will be a fun evening for almost anyone, even if you have no personal Asian connection.
