Story
Crazy Rich Asians is a romantic comedy based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Kevin Kwan. Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) is a young Asian-American woman who teaches economics at New York University. Her boyfriend, the dashingly handsome Nick Young (Henry Ewan Golding), invites her to travel to Singapore to attend his best friend’s wedding. When she arrives at the airport, Rachel is very surprised to be ushered into first class, and Nick admits to her that his family is ‘comfortable’.
It gradually becomes clear to Rachel that ‘comfortable’ is an understatement, and she discovers that Nick is actually the beloved heir to one of Singapore’s richest and most powerful families. Not only must Rachel navigate many cultural challenges, she is also faced with the hostility of Nick’s formidable mother, Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh). Rachel’s holiday in Singapore turns out to be much more than she bargained for.
Themes
Wealth and social status; love and romance; traditional family values versus modern values; clash between Eastern and Western cultural values
Violence
Nothing of concern
Sexual references
Crazy Rich Asians has some sexual references. For example:
- A man asks, ‘What’s Rachel bringing to the party? Small tits?’
- Someone refers to Rachel as the right kind of girl to date, adding, ‘She’s got a great backside’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Crazy Rich Asians shows adults drinking socially at parties and social gatherings.
Nudity and sexual activity
Crazy Rich Asians has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- There are several scenes that show men naked to the waist in the shower or getting dressed.
- At a bachelor party, there is a boat full of bikini-clad women with sashes indicating the countries they’re from. They seem to have been brought in just to entertain the men.
- A man wears a gold G-string.
- A man grabs a woman in a passionate embrace and squeezes her breasts dramatically. He says, ‘I can feel all of you, all of me’.
- When Rachel sees her boyfriend getting out of bed half-naked, she looks at him suggestively and says, ‘Hubba hubba!’ He comes back to bed and lies on top of her, kissing her passionately.
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in Crazy Rich Asians: Luxury designer brands and goods including Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Rolex and so on.
Coarse language
Crazy Rich Asians has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Crazy Rich Asians is a light, frothy romantic comedy with plenty of laughs and visual appeal. It’s unashamedly materialistic and relies heavily on cultural stereotypes for comic value, but it’s likely to be enjoyed by teenagers and adults nonetheless.
This movie is likely to lack interest for children under eight years, so it isn’t recommended for this age group. We recommend parental guidance for children aged 8-13 years because of the movie’s adult themes, sexual references and coarse language.
The main messages from this movie are to stand up for yourself and be confident and to never be ashamed of where you come from.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include:
- being culturally sensitive
- valuing love and good relationships over money and wealth
- respecting your family.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like:
- the clash between traditional beliefs or behaviours and more modern ideas
- the differences and similarities between Western and Eastern cultures.