Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
On Quartile, Joy Ride scores 6.5/10 across five categories — strongest on Acting (Above Average), weakest on Plot (Below Average).
When Audrey's business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo, her irreverent, childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat, her college friend turned Chinese soap star; and Deadeye, Lolo's eccentric cousin. Their no-holds-barred, epic experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging, and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are.
Joy Ride (2023) is a raunchy comedy with a female-led Asian-American ensemble that brings some genuine freshness to the road-trip genre. The plot is fairly formulaic — a chaotic trip that doubles as a self-discovery journey — hitting predictable beats despite its energetic execution. The acting is a strength, with Stephanie Hsu and Ashley Park delivering committed, funny performances that elevate the material. Cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable for the genre. Novelty earns a slight bump for centering an unapologetically crude, explicitly sexual comedy around Asian-American women, a rare and distinctive framing even if the comedic structure itself isn't groundbreaking. The ending resolves sentimentally and competently but doesn't surprise.