7.3
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Joy Ride (2023)
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Progressive
Viewer Rating
Rating: 7.3
Overview
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.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Bias Dimensions
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: High
LGBTQ: Positive
Trans: Positive
Christianity: Negative
Overview
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.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Detailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Progressive
Primary
The film is rated Left-Leaning because its central subject matter and solutions champion progressive values such as celebrating Asian American identity, challenging stereotypes, addressing racial dynamics, and promoting female empowerment and solidarity.
The film 'Joy Ride' demonstrates significant Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by centering Asian American characters, including a nonbinary individual, in a genre typically dominated by white voices. It actively challenges long-standing stereotypes about Asian women and explicitly critiques traditional identities through its narrative, addressing issues like workplace racism and cultural belonging.
Secondary
Joy Ride offers a positive and affirming portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters and themes. It normalizes queerness through casual depictions of bisexual and gender nonconforming characters, emphasizing acceptance, sexual freedom, and the importance of chosen family within its broader narrative of friendship and self-discovery.
Joy Ride features a subtle, positive portrayal of gender identity through the non-binary character Deadeye, whose self-discovery includes changing pronouns. While a more explicit queer subplot was cut, Deadeye's understated arc offers a meaningful, affirming representation of LGBTQ+ themes of self-acceptance in the released film.
The film portrays Christian chastity through the character Clarence, treating his commitment humorously and featuring 'unkind jokes' related to Kat's deception about her faith. The comedic framing, without significant counterbalancing positive nuance, positions the portrayal as problematic by making a religious practice a source of comedic difficulty.
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
Joy Ride (2023) is an original film with no pre-existing source material or historical basis. Therefore, no character has a prior canonical gender from which a gender swap could occur.
The film features original characters, and the casting of an East Asian actress (Korean American) for an East Asian character (Chinese adoptee) is considered an ethnic shift within the same broader racial category, which is excluded from the definition of a race swap.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
6.4
6.5
Critic Ratings
9.0
7.4
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