Friends reconvene for a messy vacation in Fire Island, the latest from director Andrew Ahn.
Needing a break from life and heteronormativity, a group of friends embarks on a vacation to the famous LGBTQ destination spot Fire Island, where they plan to let loose and have some fun. But even within this culture, there are rifts and divisions, particularly racism and classism, which gets in the way of the group’s carefree week.
The film is one in a growing number of highly commercial queer-heteronormativity romances, following Happiest Season and preceding Bros. What sets Fire Island apart from this pack, though, is its focus on queer characters of Asian descent, a break from the overwhelmingly white queer cinema that has pushed its way into the mainstream.
Its success is almost a given because of the incredible team behind it. Ahn has been impressing with low-budget films like Spa Night and Driveways for years now, and writer/star Joel Kim Booster has made a career out of addressing everything this movie is dealing with, as have co-stars Bowen Yang and Margaret Cho.
But the glory of these films isn’t that they’re breaking barriers and getting impressive budgets; it’s that they’re being treated as the same kind of fun entertainment as films about everyone else are. So while you shouldn’t expect this vacation to go off without a hitch, don’t expect it to get too self-serious, either.
Fire Island is directed by Andrew Ahn and stars Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, and Margaret Cho. It will be released in the US on Hulu on June 3rd. Further release dates are not currently known.
Will you join them for this trip? Let us know in the comments!
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