'Fire Island:' The Gay Asian 'Pride and Prejudice' Rom-Com You Didn't Know You Needed, Starring a Ripped Joel Kim Booster and Adorable Bowen Yang
I'm not sure what I expected when going into the screening for Searchlight Pictures' upcoming summer flick Fire Island. Directed by Andrew Ahn and written by and starring comedian Joel Kim Booster, the modern-day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice featuring gay men of color proved to be the fun summer rom-com - one that simultaneously warmed my heart and lent me insight into the complexities of dating as a gay man.
In the movie, we meet a fun group of friends, led by Booster's Noah, who converge on Fire Island at a house owned by their adoptive "mother" figure; an ageless lesbian woman named Erin, played by an exuberant Margaret Cho.
As the friends attempt to figure out how best to get laid and party the week away, clear class divides and racial prejudices arise - and all the while, the friends interact with and fall in love with the other gay men partying on Fire Island.
If you couldn't already tell, if pushed to use a single word to describe Fire Island, I would choose the word "fun." The beautiful cinematography and colors of the film offset a thoroughly dance-able soundtrack.
The casting is also superb, with standouts being an adorable Bowen Yang, who plays Howie, a romantic and this film's equivalent of Jane Bennett, and Conrad Ricamora, a seemingly uptight, judgmental, super rich lawyer, who is this film's equivalent of Mr. Darcy.
This film's Mr. Bingley, James Scully's Charlie, is played with just the right amount of naivete, lending the coupling of Scully's and Yang's characters a feeling of pure-hearted romance.
Zane Phillips' Dex, the film's Mr. Wickham, is - as my friend described - "violently handsome," and plays a marvelous bad guy and flirt. Booster's own coupling with Ricamora also feels natural, though Noah's near-constant narrating can sometimes veer towards the annoying side.
Fire Island is commendable for capturing the feeling of summer romance and romantic comedy perfectly. It's also a testament to Booster's writing that, though I'm not a gay man, the characters' struggles were presented so honestly that there were definite moments where their experiences resonated with me. (At the same time, the writing could sometimes feel a bit on the nose, especially during those pieces of narration.)
The audience of the screening I went to was primarily gay men, and I could tell from the gasps and laughs that the film certainly spoke to them in terms of humor and references. When I asked the friend I went with - who is non-binary, gay, and Asian - what they thought, they told me that the portrayal of the difficulties Asian gay men face in dating was truthful, though tackled superficially. (However, when the medium is that of a rom-com, how in-depth to the experience can the audience expect?)
All in all, I had a great experience watching Fire Island, and I firmly believe that you don't have to be a gay man to enjoy the film. In fact, I feel that Fire Island may instead be a low-stakes way to peer into another person's experience and be a good learning opportunity. Because at the end of the day, Fire Island is a feel-good film that's about finding love - and no matter your sexuality, that's something most people can relate to.
The only regret I have for Fire Island is that the film is going straight to Hulu, and won't have a theatrical run. That means the only way for audiences to find this wonderful little film, starring non-traditional romantic leads - and Asian ones at that! - is to find it on the streamer themselves. But, perhaps in the best tribute to Austen's Pride and Prejudice - what's love without a little struggle to find it first?
Fire Island debuts on Hulu on June 3, 2022.
For more entertainment news and commentary, check out Enstarz! We bring you the latest on your favorite celebrities, TV shows, and films.
