"Crazy Rich Asians" Rewatch: A Choice Between Love and Family

✈️ Join us for a trip to Singapore as we recap Crazy Rich Asians! In this 2018 rom-com-dram, Rachel and Nick are on their way to his best friend’s wedding when she finds out his family is basically Singapore royalty. Let’s see how Rachel handles meeting Nick’s insanely wealthy and judgy family!

🎥 This movie stars Michelle Yeoh, Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Nico Santos, Lisa Lu, Ken Jeong, and Jimmy O. Yang. Directed by John M. Chu and based on the novel by Kevin Kwan. Our friend, Raisa, joins us to chat about this love story! ❤️

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💿 Song pairing: Rich Boy by Galantis

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Transcript

00:00:13:21 - 00:00:15:17
Sarah
I love bugs. I'm Sarah.

00:00:15:21 - 00:00:16:19
Hadley
And I'm Hadley.

00:00:17:01 - 00:00:49:02
Sarah
This week we're heading to Singapore with our friend Raisa as we rewatch Crazy Rich Asians Rachel Chanukah on their way to his best friend's wedding once he finds out his family is basically Singapore royalty. Let's see how Rachel handles meeting his insanely wealthy and judgy family. Our guest is Raisa, who I met in Thailand. We went on a tour from Bangkok through Malaysia down to Singapore, and we had a couple days in Singapore together.

00:00:49:07 - 00:00:57:02
Raisa
We bonded a lot, mostly talking about food and similarities and differences between British and American snacks.

00:00:57:03 - 00:00:58:15
Sarah
We had lots of snacks.

00:00:58:21 - 00:01:01:05
Raisa
And that's when there our friendship was formed.

00:01:01:05 - 00:01:01:22
Sarah
Over food.

00:01:02:12 - 00:01:03:17
Hadley
Do you have a favorite rom com?

00:01:03:21 - 00:01:07:11
Raisa
I love the movie Angus; Thongs and Perfect Snogging, and I think that's my guilty pleasure.

00:01:08:21 - 00:01:10:06
Hadley
Do you have a least favorite rom com?

00:01:10:07 - 00:01:30:10
Raisa
Until a month ago I would have said The Notebook, but then I watched it again and I like oh okay no I do like it. For a really long time I thought it was really overrated. Then I got married and I was with my person for ten years and I was like, Oh no, this is differently because I watched it originally I was 18 and I was like, Oh, come on, are you kidding?

00:01:30:16 - 00:01:36:09
Raisa
And I genuinely was like, This is the most overrated thing I've ever seen before. Now when it hit, I sobbed.

00:01:36:12 - 00:01:42:21
Sarah
The Notebook was my favorite for a long time, but upon rewatching it, there's a lot of problematic things.

00:01:43:01 - 00:01:53:15
Raisa
I love rom-coms, but I do think that there's not as many good ones now. More action movies are getting made, a lot of thrillers, but no I love the rom-coms of like my generation from early noughties.

00:01:53:15 - 00:01:55:12
Hadley
Those are where some of my favorite ones are from.

00:01:55:14 - 00:02:15:13
Raisa
There, almost reminiscent of that time of my life as well. I watched Angus; Thongs and Perfect Snogging a few years ago and it was really, really cringe. And I was embarrassed by it. But equally, I was still like this is still gold because I just loved it so much when I was younger that if I watched it now for the first time, I would be like, Oh dear, this is horrendous.

00:02:15:14 - 00:02:29:00
Hadley
I've got a few movies like that where I'm like, Oh, I love this movie so much. And then I show it to someone and I'm like, Oh, never mind. I liked this movie a while ago. It's amazing to see how the movies that we loved when we were younger stand up now.

00:02:29:00 - 00:02:30:15
Raisa
Some of them don't age so well.

00:02:31:01 - 00:02:37:18
Hadley
I think romcoms are so easy to just fall into the world of that just watching it for fun you're like, Oh okay, this checks out in this world.

00:02:38:00 - 00:02:47:04
Sarah
There were a few episodes where I did not have fun analytically watching the movies. It was like, mmm I wish I hadn't thought about this really.

00:02:47:04 - 00:03:05:01
Hadley
Same. I had a lot of fun watching Crazy Rich Asians though. Crazy Rich Asians is based on the book Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. He makes a tiny cameo. He's one of the texters when they're texting about Rachel. Some of the people producing the movie wanted to take the word Asian out.

00:03:05:03 - 00:03:16:01
Raisa
I'm Asian, but Pakistani Asian. There's a lot of overlap in the Asians. For me, it was really funny because they're like, Oh yeah, my Asian does this also or Oh no, my Asian doesn't do that one.

00:03:16:14 - 00:03:22:22
Sarah
Hadley, if you end up reading the book, let us know if there are any differences, because I'm always curious about that.

00:03:23:02 - 00:03:36:18
Hadley
One of the big differences is with Eleanor, Nick's mom. Her character was written as very nasty and mean. Michelle Yeoh believes there was more love motivating her character's decisions than the screenplay suggested, so changes were made.

00:03:36:19 - 00:03:51:14
Sarah
I'm glad that they made her a little warmer. I agree with her interpretation of her character. I think it is a lot of love that's driving her actions, and I think she's just trying to protect her family that she's worked so hard for.

00:03:51:21 - 00:04:01:19
Hadley
We opened in London in 1995. Eleanor and her family are checking into a hotel with some super racist people working at the front desk.

00:04:01:22 - 00:04:06:23
Raisa
Yeah this is not a good representation of the UK. Not our finest moment here.

00:04:07:03 - 00:04:13:08
Sarah
I'm obsessed with this scene. I remember seeing this movie in theaters and I was hooked after this scene.

00:04:13:10 - 00:04:16:13
Hadley
What a power move. You can't say here. Okay, I'll buy it.

00:04:17:12 - 00:04:20:01
Raisa
The only note I wrote here was badass.

00:04:20:12 - 00:04:44:03
Sarah
I love a good revenge plot, and this is the perfect revenge plot on racist people. The men at the hotel tell Eleanor to go explore Chinatown, and the nanny is like, "You can go explore hell". Loved that. I was expecting her to fire them. I was kind of happy that she didn't because now they have to wait on her.

00:04:44:03 - 00:04:45:21
Hadley
And clean up after her kids.

00:04:46:02 - 00:04:47:10
Raisa
She said the floor needs mopped.

00:04:47:14 - 00:04:57:00
Sarah
She called her friend who owns the hotel. He comes down and says he sold the hotel to her and I got chills as she walked away. This was a very powerful scene.

00:04:57:09 - 00:04:59:01
Hadley
She's not a lady you want to mess with.

00:04:59:02 - 00:05:00:10
Raisa
She just knows what she wants.

00:05:00:11 - 00:05:06:00
Sarah
This movie came out when I was traveling in Asia. I saw it at a movie theater in Thailand.

00:05:06:02 - 00:05:14:14
Raisa
Oh, I watched this on a flight and I was wondering if I actually watched it flying home from Singapore. I watched it right about that time and was like, Oh, I've been there.

00:05:14:19 - 00:05:27:02
Sarah
I saw it right before I went to Singapore, so I was like, okay, these are all the sites I need to see when I'm there. Rachel Chu, played by Constance Wu, is teaching a game theory class.

00:05:27:05 - 00:05:28:15
Hadley
Her class seems to love her.

00:05:28:16 - 00:05:32:00
Sarah
She seems interesting. I feel like I wouldn't get bored in her class.

00:05:32:07 - 00:05:36:04
Raisa
She seems approachable, young, trendy, relatable.

00:05:36:12 - 00:05:38:21
Sarah
She goes to get drinks with her boyfriend, Nick.

00:05:39:12 - 00:05:43:21
Hadley
Henry Golding, who played Nick, left his honeymoon to come audition for this movie.

00:05:44:12 - 00:05:50:18
Raisa
I don't knoe how I feel about that. I'm on his Wikipedia. Now I'm going to look who else I know him from. It says Last Christmas.

00:05:50:21 - 00:05:54:10
Sarah
Oh, with the girl from Game of Roses.

00:05:54:13 - 00:05:55:11
Hadley
Game of Thrones?

00:05:55:11 - 00:05:55:22
Sarah
I mean yes.

00:05:56:15 - 00:05:57:08
Raisa
Yeah.

00:05:57:21 - 00:06:00:11
Sarah
Game of Roses is a podcast about The Bachelor.

00:06:01:01 - 00:06:03:21
Hadley
Awkwafina's character does say it's like Asian Bachelor.

00:06:04:00 - 00:06:17:01
Sarah
Yes, I did make a note about that because there has not been an Asian bachelor yet. We briefly talked about Michelle Yeoh, who plays Eleanor in this movie. Have either of you seen her new movie, Everything Everywhere All At Once?

00:06:17:06 - 00:06:18:21
Hadley
No, but I want to.

00:06:18:21 - 00:06:32:23
Sarah
Same. It looks really good. So Rachel and Nick have been dating for a year, and he invites her to his friend's wedding in Singapore as his date. While they're having drinks, word gets around to his mom that he's bringing a date.

00:06:33:06 - 00:06:36:15
Hadley
Everyone is connected and they're all trying to figure out who Rachel is.

00:06:36:16 - 00:06:44:15
Raisa
I love the speed of this. That all of this scene happened of everybody texting and they had moved about 30 seconds in the bar there in.

00:06:44:19 - 00:06:49:08
Hadley
It's good foreshadowing that Nick hasn't told a lot of things to Rachel.

00:06:49:12 - 00:07:05:13
Raisa
I felt it's quite a bold move to invite her to something off the cuff when he still hasn't told her anything really. Surprise! Meet the real me. I think your family and your upbringing says a lot about you. For me, I was like that's quite important information you've left out. I mean putting aside the fact that he is crazy rich.

00:07:05:20 - 00:07:19:07
Hadley
I get that he wants to keep his life in Singapore separate from his life in New York. But if you're dating someone for over a year, I think you should probably share a little bit. Even if you're like, I don't want to be this big business guy, but here's my family.

00:07:19:12 - 00:07:33:20
Raisa
Or at least tell her, and then in the next day, invite her to the wedding. Obviously, if he's invited to meet the family, he does think she's the one. Or you know going somewhere. So at that point, he probably would feel comfortable that she's not in it for his money.

00:07:33:20 - 00:07:40:23
Sarah
I do feel kind of bad for Eleanor here, though, because I'd be like, Why is my son hiding his relationship from me?

00:07:41:01 - 00:07:44:15
Hadley
Why haven't you told your mom you're bringing someone home with you?

00:07:44:15 - 00:07:46:19
Sarah
I feel like she's probably the first one you should tell.

00:07:46:19 - 00:07:49:17
Hadley
The people hosting the event should probably know a new person's coming.

00:07:49:23 - 00:08:13:02
Raisa
Although, I guess that's one thing in Asian culture, an invite is a very fluid thing. Asian weddings are very, very big. The numbers usually aren't so controlled because there's less of the structure to a western wedding where you have a sit down meal and price per head and things. It's very much a bit more of a free for all and its usually like a very minute RSVP as well.

00:08:13:12 - 00:08:16:03
Sarah
What was your wedding like?

00:08:16:15 - 00:08:46:19
Raisa
Blended. Since I married a Scottish man. In our culture, the bride's family throws the big reception. So my mom wanted to do that. We did like all of our legal things the day before. The next day had a big wedding reception, very Asian themed, but we got Harry's family to wear traditional Scottish clothing. So it was all tartan kilt that was really nice with like all of the bright colors of our traditional dress blended with tartan and Scottish traditional clothing.

00:08:46:19 - 00:08:56:14
Raisa
Even Harry's 80 year old grandad got really involved and was dancing all night. It was a good little event. Nothing like the weddings in Singapore with these crazy rich Asians.

00:08:57:10 - 00:09:09:01
Hadley
Eleanor is not happy about Rachel coming over and basically blocks her from coming to the house. She's like, We have construction. I only have room for you. We see his room later. It has room for probably like four more people in it.

00:09:09:23 - 00:09:21:15
Raisa
I thought that if it was someone that she would be happy to have in the house, then maybe she wouldn't have been so closed off to the idea. If it was someone that lived up to the expectations I feel like she probably would have been a bit more welcoming.

00:09:21:17 - 00:09:26:08
Hadley
I think you're right. I think she would be much more welcoming if she approved and knew who this person was.

00:09:26:14 - 00:09:41:20
Sarah
Rachel goes shopping with her mom who tells her to wear red for good fortune and fertility. This red dress is cute and she looks good in it, but it's def not on the level of the clothing she needs for all these parties.

00:09:41:23 - 00:09:50:10
Raisa
He didn't prepare her very well for this. And I think if she didn't have her friend over there, she didn't live up to everyone's expectations, so she basically stood no chance.

00:09:50:16 - 00:09:57:23
Hadley
I don't think he shared any details about what kind of clothing she needed. All their events seem to be red carpet attire only.

00:09:57:23 - 00:10:04:01
Sarah
Rachel and Nick arrive at the airport talking about Rachel's mom's Tupperware meals that she packed.

00:10:04:03 - 00:10:05:04
Raisa
I love this.

00:10:05:05 - 00:10:19:12
Sarah
Quite a contrast, because then the stewardess comes over to escort them to first class and Rachel says, "We're economy people". I'd be kind of upset with him, honestly. I'd be like, I look like an idiot. Can you please tell me what's going on?

00:10:19:15 - 00:10:31:14
Raisa
I think I'd feel a bit uncomfortable here. Like you say, you kind of feel like a fool, and like you brought a little egg sandwiches in a Ziploc bag When you're going to fly on first class. It's wholesome and its sweet.

00:10:31:15 - 00:10:40:15
Sarah
It seems so second nature to him that I don't think he'd even thought about having to warn her about it, because he's so used to it.

00:10:40:16 - 00:10:48:11
Raisa
Almost like first class is the only class that exists in his life to travel. Like there's one box and it's first class only.

00:10:48:22 - 00:10:57:00
Sarah
When they get on the plane, Rachel asks if Nick's family is rich, and he responds, We're comfortable, which is exactly what a rich person would say.

00:10:57:13 - 00:11:12:22
Raisa
When we were flying to Bali for our honeymoon, we were looking at flights and we said, Oh, should we see how much a first class ticket would be just to treat ourselves. To upgrade to first class I think it's like £10,000 for one flight, we'd only be halfway.

00:11:13:04 - 00:11:23:13
Sarah
One of my life goals is to fly first class internationally at least once. It's so expensive and it's only going to keep getting more expensive, so I don't know how I will ever afford that.

00:11:23:23 - 00:11:47:08
Hadley
Rachel gets Nick to talk about who she's actually going to meet because she's now found out that he is insanely wealthy. He gives a rundown of the cousins, starting with Alistair, played by Remy Hii. He lives in Taiwan. He is dating Kitty Pong, who is not a good actress, but as the crew members say, he's paying for the movie so she'll be the lead.

00:11:47:09 - 00:12:02:10
Hadley
We get Eddie, who's a businessman with a lot of children, and he's very frustrated with his wife because he thinks if she was wearing a better dress, they would be on the cover of American Vogue, not Hong Kong Vogue. He's played by Ronny Chieng. And then we meet Astrid.

00:12:02:10 - 00:12:05:23
Sarah
Astrid is a fashion icon in Hong Kong.

00:12:06:07 - 00:12:09:19
Hadley
She's played by Gemma Chan. She's probably my favorite character in this movie.

00:12:09:22 - 00:12:10:09
Raisa
Me too.

00:12:10:17 - 00:12:13:18
Sarah
She goes to try on some very expensive jewelry.

00:12:13:22 - 00:12:18:19
Hadley
They give her the earrings at cost for a little 1.2 million.

00:12:18:21 - 00:12:22:06
Sarah
Even if I had money, I would be so anxious wearing those.

00:12:22:12 - 00:12:30:17
Raisa
Imagine having a pair of earrings for 1.2 million. Your net wealth will be hundreds of millions. Like how. I just can't fathom that.

00:12:30:21 - 00:12:36:15
Sarah
It's hard to conceptualize a billion dollars because it's just such an insane amount of money.

00:12:36:22 - 00:12:49:08
Hadley
We know she's extremely wealthy because later when her husband's like, Where are you going to go? She's like, well own 14 apartment buildings, so maybe I'll go to one. I was like, okay. This movie starts on a power move and ends on a power move.

00:12:49:11 - 00:12:53:04
Raisa
I like Astrid. She was very sweet and genteel.

00:12:53:11 - 00:13:07:13
Hadley
She seemed way less obsessed with money than everyone around her. And I know she has a ton of it, so she probably doesn't have to think about it. But Eddie is always talking about Who are you? Who's your family? Astrid's husband even is so obsessed with money,

00:13:07:13 - 00:13:15:08
Raisa
I think its almost a burden to her to be so rich. I don't think she actually enjoys the lifestyle. She seems a bit scarred from it all.

00:13:15:14 - 00:13:26:21
Hadley
Nick and Rachel get to Singapore and meet up with Nick's friends, Colin and Araminta. Rachel is impressed the airport has a butterfly garden and she says JFK just smells like salmonella and despair.

00:13:27:03 - 00:13:45:18
Sarah
This is an awesome airport. I've been there. It's been rated the number one airport several years in a row. But they have a butterfly garden and a movie theater. They also have a pool you can get day passes for. And if you have a really long layover, they have day tours of the city.

00:13:45:18 - 00:13:53:13
Raisa
There's a big rooftop cactus garden. That was cool. It had like an indoor waterfall and rainforest area, I think probably where the butterflies are.

00:13:53:19 - 00:13:56:09
Sarah
I did go into the butterfly garden. It was very cool.

00:13:56:17 - 00:14:01:18
Hadley
I really want to stop there sometime. I'd love to go to Singapore, but if I happen to even just have a layover.

00:14:02:00 - 00:14:20:09
Sarah
If you fly anywhere in Asia, you have a pretty high likelihood of having a layover in Singapore. So just make sure it's a long one. Araminta and Colin the ones getting married, they pick up Nick and Rachel from the airport and go on an adventure through Singapore and get some street food.

00:14:20:15 - 00:14:35:00
Raisa
This reminded me of our travels because we had a tour guide who took us to all of the hawker bazaars and got to eat the really authentic food, but he was like, You all are western, so I'm going to take you to places that your stomachs will handle.

00:14:35:08 - 00:14:41:07
Sarah
Nick mentioned that in Singapore there's actually some street food vendors that have Michelin stars.

00:14:41:15 - 00:14:47:07
Hadley
When they're sitting down to eat. Rachel gets invited to the bachelorette party. We cut to Astrid coming home from a shopping trip.

00:14:47:11 - 00:14:50:00
Sarah
Astrid's house is beautiful.

00:14:50:04 - 00:15:05:19
Hadley
I love her life. Except for the husband part of it. He's really insecure with how wealthy she is. We find out at the end that he bought the apartment they live in, but I think he just is so weird about it that she feels weird about it.

00:15:05:21 - 00:15:20:04
Sarah
She does seem like she's trying to be sensitive to his feelings about it by hiding all of her shopping bags, which is sweet because, like, if your partner is insecure about something, you should be considerate about it. But also he needs to work on that.

00:15:20:22 - 00:15:35:13
Hadley
Right? Because he's like, You don't tell me these things. And it's like you don't react well to these things. If she were to just wear her $1.2 million earrings, what would you say? You'd make her feel horrible about it. I love the scene where she's reading to her son. She gets along really well with kids it seems.

00:15:35:21 - 00:15:39:19
Raisa
I think because it seems like she doesn't relate to anybody else in this movie, does she.

00:15:39:19 - 00:15:55:08
Hadley
No. It seems like she gets the biggest connection with Rachel, but they're very different people still. Her husband comes home and immediately takes a shower and then later we find out he's having an affair. And I was like, Hmm. And he's like, I had to stay late. I'm like, Were you washing off another lady's perfume.

00:15:55:08 - 00:15:58:20
Raisa
I love how you jumped to perfume there cause that's not what I was thinking.

00:15:58:20 - 00:16:00:23
Hadley
I thought I'd censor it. A little bit.

00:16:00:23 - 00:16:02:13
Raisa
You can cut my reaction out to that.

00:16:03:22 - 00:16:11:04
Hadley
The next day, Rachel and Nick talk about what they're going to be doing. And this is a very in-between scene, but they're really cute how they interact with each other.

00:16:11:05 - 00:16:12:09
Sarah
They're adorable here.

00:16:12:09 - 00:16:16:08
Hadley
He seems so comfortable in his life with her. It seems like that's where he's most comfortable.

00:16:16:09 - 00:16:22:19
Raisa
Definitely. I would agree. They have a nice little bubble away from all the money and the expectations are cast on him.

00:16:23:05 - 00:16:37:11
Sarah
We see some shots of Singapore between these scenes. They keep showing the same sightseeing stuff like the Merlion and Marina Bay Sands and the Art Science Museum that's a Lotus.

00:16:37:20 - 00:16:42:06
Hadley
The first time I watched this, I thought, Would I like Singapore if I weren't insanely rich?

00:16:43:01 - 00:17:03:23
Raisa
I think everybody before they go doesn't get it, but once you go to Singapore, you're like, Yes, that's exactly what it is, because it's so clean, it's so urban, but not dirty urban. You can't bring chewing gum in and you get fined for chewing gum in the country. There are so many rules and it's just very quiet and safe, which is nice, but it's quite surreal as well.

00:17:04:00 - 00:17:07:21
Sarah
I want to go back and stay at Marina Bay Sands.

00:17:07:21 - 00:17:08:12
Raisa
Oh!

00:17:08:12 - 00:17:09:17
Sarah
But that's really expensive.

00:17:09:17 - 00:17:11:17
Raisa
Yeah.

00:17:11:17 - 00:17:14:06
Sarah
I just want to go swim in their pool on the roof.

00:17:14:12 - 00:17:16:03
Raisa
The ultimate infinity pool.

00:17:16:05 - 00:17:18:05
Hadley
Is that where the party is at the very end?

00:17:18:05 - 00:17:19:10
Raisa
That's the closing scene.

00:17:19:10 - 00:17:25:06
Hadley
I wondered, because if that wasn't the biggest infinity pool on a rooftop there, I really wondered what the biggest was.

00:17:25:14 - 00:17:35:02
Raisa
That's the one. We went up one of the towers. We weren't on the rooftop pool, unfortunately, but we were on other levels. So you get to see like 360 views of the city.

00:17:35:15 - 00:17:39:09
Sarah
We meet Rachel's friend Peik Lin who's played by Awkwafina.

00:17:39:19 - 00:17:44:13
Hadley
Their house was inspired by Versailles and Donald Trump's bathroom.

00:17:44:20 - 00:17:58:17
Sarah
The Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. Very ornate. Everything is gold. I liked that auntie came out and said, Come in and enjoy the air con. I forgot that everyone says air con.

00:17:59:04 - 00:18:02:07
Hadley
We meet the rest of her family over a meal.

00:18:02:10 - 00:18:10:03
Sarah
Mr. Goh is played by Ken Jeong. He's from The Hangover, and I was obsessed with his character in those movies.

00:18:10:03 - 00:18:12:09
Hadley
He is a doctor turned comedian.

00:18:12:13 - 00:18:21:18
Sarah
Quite a career change. He says, You went to the same school as my daughter and you came back with a useful degree and she came back as Asian Ellen.

00:18:21:18 - 00:18:22:16
Raisa
I love that line.

00:18:23:06 - 00:18:27:17
Hadley
He introduces the brother who whispers, I love you across the table.

00:18:27:17 - 00:18:45:03
Sarah
Rachel says her boyfriend is Nick Young. Peik Lin's first reaction when she says Nick Young, she's like, The Nick you're dating is Nick Young. They're all shocked because this wedding that she's going to is the event of the century because the Young's literally built Singapore.

00:18:45:08 - 00:18:48:12
Hadley
Finally, someone decides to fill her in on the situation.

00:18:48:13 - 00:18:56:18
Sarah
Thank God she has this friend. Peik Lin loans Rachel a fancy dress and drives her to the Young mansion.

00:18:57:03 - 00:19:01:02
Hadley
Peik Lin is fashionable enough that she has three changes of outfits in her car.

00:19:01:05 - 00:19:04:05
Raisa
I loved this. There was three categories of dress.

00:19:04:05 - 00:19:05:16
Sarah
The first one was clubbing.

00:19:05:22 - 00:19:08:02
Hadley
Then there was cocktail and walk of shame.

00:19:08:02 - 00:19:09:06
Sarah
She came prepared.

00:19:09:06 - 00:19:16:04
Hadley
Rachel's like, You have a cocktail dress in your trunk and Peik Lin was like, I'm not an animal Rachel.

00:19:16:04 - 00:19:28:13
Raisa
I also loved the drive to this mansion or the satnav was like, Turn around, you're at that dead end and it's not even on maps. That's great. That's wealth when you've hidden your house from maps.

00:19:28:13 - 00:19:35:02
Hadley
They drive through the jungle to get there and they're met by armed guards. She says, Don't stab the car.

00:19:35:17 - 00:19:40:03
Raisa
That was comical. Yeah, these like, wild looking security guards.

00:19:40:11 - 00:19:41:19
Hadley
In an unmarked location.

00:19:41:19 - 00:19:41:22
Raisa
Yeah.

00:19:42:16 - 00:20:12:22
Sarah
They were talking about how the Youngs are old money. And this mansion definitely gives old money vibes. It kind of reminded me of Great Gatsby. This house that they're in, the grandma's house, is actually in Kuala Lumpur. The mansion was made out of two abandoned Malaysian government owned buildings. Apparently, the jungle had overgrown on the inside and some of the floors had collapsed and there were monkeys and bats living in it before they started filming.

00:20:13:04 - 00:20:19:18
Sarah
Rachel's new dress is gorgeous. They described it later as chic seventies goddess.

00:20:19:18 - 00:20:23:22
Raisa
I think its much more appropriate than the fortune and fertility red dress.

00:20:23:22 - 00:20:33:18
Sarah
I would already be intimidated by everyone there having money, but if I also came underdressed, I'd be so embarrassed. I be like there's got to be a dress in this house I could borrow.

00:20:33:18 - 00:20:35:20
Hadley
Peik Lin gets invited to the party.

00:20:36:04 - 00:20:37:04
Raisa
I loved this.

00:20:37:13 - 00:20:43:16
Hadley
He's like the bathrooms upstairs to the right and she's like I'll figure it out. And she takes selfies all the way up the stairs.

00:20:44:14 - 00:20:52:01
Sarah
I feel like PPeik Lin is the audience. Like how we would all act if we were at this party.

00:20:52:08 - 00:20:53:07
Hadley
Oh, absolutely.

00:20:53:14 - 00:21:08:23
Sarah
Nick introduces Rachel to his mom, and Rachel goes right in for a hug. I don't think I would have done that. His mom was a little cold in this scene, but not too bad until, she says, pursuing one's passion. How American.

00:21:09:05 - 00:21:17:06
Raisa
I was struggling to get the vibe from her. I was like, is she being cold. I think up until that moment it was still kind of hit or miss which way it was going.

00:21:17:10 - 00:21:25:11
Sarah
I was expecting her to be way colder. So what you said about them making her character warmer made a lot of sense.

00:21:25:11 - 00:21:35:15
Hadley
Nick introduces Rachel to all the cousins and aunties who are very judgy and the nanny who Rachel mistakes for the grandmother.

00:21:35:19 - 00:21:37:16
Raisa
No one's particularly welcoming here.

00:21:37:21 - 00:21:39:22
Hadley
Except the nanny. The nanny seems pretty cool.

00:21:39:22 - 00:21:42:20
Raisa
Yeah, cause the nanny is the only person who's relatable to her.

00:21:43:05 - 00:21:50:01
Hadley
Even when they try to get Rachel to connect with Astrid's husband, Michael, he's just like, I'm going to go to my alcove.

00:21:50:09 - 00:21:52:09
Sarah
He seems very out of place here.

00:21:52:12 - 00:21:56:06
Hadley
It feels like he doesn't want to try to make himself feel included.

00:21:56:06 - 00:22:04:07
Raisa
I got that as well. I was like, he had a chip on his shoulder, but nobody else placed there but him and he just didn't want to make the effort.

00:22:04:07 - 00:22:21:05
Hadley
Astrid goes off to talk to her husband. He's on a business call and she brings him dinner, and she's like, I can come help out at the office if you need help. And he's not okay with that. Which is really sweet of her to offer. He just seems to think that'll be her bringing herself down to be an administrative assistant. She doesn't see it that way.

00:22:21:09 - 00:22:28:04
Raisa
She wants to have a partnership. She's very loving, isn't she? It seems like she'll kind of do whatever she needs to. She's not someone who's on a pedestal.

00:22:28:07 - 00:22:32:08
Sarah
I'm glad that they end up breaking up because she deserves a better partner.

00:22:32:13 - 00:22:41:17
Hadley
He goes to get the fork that she forgot to get and his phone rings. So she looks at it. She sees a message that says the bed feels empty without you and finds out he's having an affair.

00:22:42:02 - 00:22:49:22
Raisa
Also handled it very well. I'd be like, give me that fork. Let me stab you in the eyeballs with it.

00:22:49:22 - 00:22:51:07
Hadley
Rachel meets Ollie.

00:22:51:10 - 00:22:58:22
Sarah
She spills wine on Nick's white suit and then has to talk to all of her. Who tells her she looks like a chic seventies goddess.

00:22:59:04 - 00:23:02:22
Hadley
And he's played by Nico Santos, who's on the TV show Superstore.

00:23:03:02 - 00:23:04:19
Raisa
That was one of my lockdown binges.

00:23:05:02 - 00:23:07:08
Sarah
Is that the one that has America Ferrera.

00:23:07:11 - 00:23:22:05
Raisa
Yes, I did think his accent was particularly terrible. It fell a lot. It was very disjointed and it felt like he's breaking character the whole time and I can't get into the scene when he's talking like that. It's almost like fourth walls, you know, because it's just so obvious his accent is so bad.

00:23:22:10 - 00:23:34:22
Hadley
I wonder why they made him have that accent. If he wasn't doing it well, I feel like they should have been like, Oh, we sent him to school in America or something, a place where he wouldn't have picked up a British accent.

00:23:35:00 - 00:23:44:22
Raisa
I never understand why people get cast in roles where they have to put on an accent that's a terrible accent. It's like, just give that role somebody who that is their natural accent and they will do a better job.

00:23:45:03 - 00:23:54:16
Sarah
He's talking about the Cambodian gong that the family bought that he had to find for them. And Rachel asks why they would want to buy that. For a dinner bell. Obviously.

00:23:55:15 - 00:23:58:13
Raisa
I don't think Rachel had figured out what she's walked into, has she?

00:23:59:00 - 00:24:02:12
Hadley
Not at all. I think the gong helps set the tone, though.

00:24:02:18 - 00:24:05:13
Sarah
Because a cowbell would be too plain.

00:24:05:20 - 00:24:27:01
Hadley
Nick had to go upstairs and change his clothes because Rachel spilled the drink all over him. His mom comes up and they have a chat. We find out that Nick was supposed to move back last year and help run the company that his dad owns. He says he's not ready yet. The mom says she thinks Rachel's a nice girl. And in my notes I wrote 'Liar'. Then they go to the orchid house. Ollie gives all the gossip about everyone on the way.

00:24:27:09 - 00:24:29:17
Raisa
Everybody's just watching this flower bloom.

00:24:30:07 - 00:24:54:04
Sarah
The queen of the night flower. The Tan Hua plant was imported to China in the 1600s. Outside of China, it's also known as Orchid Cactus and Night Blooming Cereus. This kind of flower only blooms in July through October and they were supposed to be there over spring break. So, continuity error.

00:24:54:17 - 00:25:02:22
Raisa
I guess it had to be something rare and with some meaning behind it rather than just any old orchid off the street.

00:25:02:22 - 00:25:06:07
Sarah
It is one of the most expensive flowers in the world.

00:25:06:07 - 00:25:07:06
Raisa
Well, there you go.

00:25:08:05 - 00:25:10:00
Sarah
Makes sense they have a whole house for it.

00:25:10:08 - 00:25:11:22
Raisa
Grandma liked Rachel, didn't she?

00:25:12:06 - 00:25:15:05
Sarah
Yeah. She said her nose was auspicious.

00:25:15:08 - 00:25:16:15
Raisa
Ah yes.

00:25:16:15 - 00:25:20:23
Hadley
She gets invited to make dumplings. Eleanor does not seem happy about this situation.

00:25:21:11 - 00:25:29:17
Raisa
A quite intimate moment. It sounded like that dumpling making session was a family tradition passed down. That's quite a big thing for Grandma to invite Rachel to.

00:25:30:04 - 00:25:34:11
Hadley
So then they meet up for the bachelor/bachelorette party in a giant airplane hangar.

00:25:34:16 - 00:25:37:16
Raisa
Very similar to my bachelorette party. Absolutely.

00:25:38:10 - 00:25:40:21
Hadley
I would be like Rachel and go with the Gap look.

00:25:40:21 - 00:25:45:11
Raisa
I loved her Gap look. I can't believe I had them to say about it. It's classic. You look good.

00:25:45:11 - 00:26:04:01
Hadley
Nick and Colin go off to this giant barge that is 'Ballin Colin's bachelor party'. The guy hosting the bachelor party, Bernard, is played by Jimmy O. Yang, who's also in the Christmas rom com Love Hard, who plays a significantly different character.

00:26:04:01 - 00:26:06:08
Raisa
Yes. Much cooler in Love Hard.

00:26:06:14 - 00:26:09:06
Hadley
I love him in that. In this I was like, Ooh, interesting guy.

00:26:09:15 - 00:26:15:05
Raisa
I love the remix of the song Baby It's Cold Outside. Ah that was classic. That was so good.

00:26:15:05 - 00:26:25:04
Hadley
I love that movie. This bachelor party is wild. Also, I noticed that I think there are only two songs that are in English in this whole movie, which I thought was pretty cool.

00:26:25:09 - 00:26:30:06
Raisa
Their version of songs I recognize. I recognized the tune. There's a couple like that.

00:26:30:06 - 00:26:35:18
Hadley
There were a lot that I was like, Oh, I know this song. Oh, I don't know the words, but I know what the song is.

00:26:36:00 - 00:26:37:04
Raisa
Yeah, I know the melody.

00:26:37:09 - 00:26:47:22
Hadley
And then the bachelorette party is on Samsara Island where the bride to be's mom owns a resort and she's closed down the whole thing just for the bachelorette party.

00:26:48:01 - 00:26:50:19
Sarah
And they get an all paid fashion spree.

00:26:50:20 - 00:26:56:17
Raisa
Absolutely wild. The big shopping party. Well, the rich people like nothing more than free things.

00:26:56:23 - 00:26:58:14
Hadley
Rachel hits it off with Amanda.

00:26:58:14 - 00:27:00:12
Raisa
Ooh. Amanda.

00:27:01:04 - 00:27:04:01
Sarah
She seems nice and friendly at first.

00:27:04:01 - 00:27:05:17
Raisa
I think that was the ploy, wasn't it?

00:27:05:20 - 00:27:15:03
Hadley
She seems like Rachel finally found a friend. Then they have the spa. And this is where Rachel finds out that Amanda used to date Nick and that Nick's mom loved her.

00:27:15:10 - 00:27:42:15
Raisa
This was savage. This was such a mean, horrible experience for her. I felt really bad for Rachel. This kind of also put me off of Araminta, the bride, because I was like, How could you (A) be friends with these people? And (B) not really fill Rachel in? I know, that's her bachelorette party. She's busy doing her own thing, but I just thought it was a bit mean inviting her to something where she doesn't know anybody. And then there's people like that that are going to be a bit mean to her.

00:27:42:15 - 00:27:57:14
Hadley
I feel like Araminta and Amanda are both people that seem one way at first and then are extremely different later because when we first meet Araminta, she's in shorts and a tank top and glasses, and then she shows up to her bachelorette party in her sequined jumpsuit and is a whole different person.

00:27:57:18 - 00:28:09:05
Raisa
When we first met her, I thought she was the Rachel equivalent to Colin. You know, maybe he's the one who had the money and she was just normal, down to earth, just you know, one of us. And then her mom owned a resort on an island.

00:28:09:11 - 00:28:13:05
Hadley
The first time I watched this movie, it didn't register with me that that was the same person.

00:28:13:14 - 00:28:20:12
Raisa
Understandable. She tells her all this and then messages the girls, She's on her way. So they can all say catty comments and she walks past.

00:28:20:19 - 00:28:34:01
Hadley
They're really mean. Rachel meets up with Astrid, who just showed up on the island a little late, and they go back to Rachel's room and see the gutted fish and "Catch this you gold digging bitch" written on the windows.

00:28:34:14 - 00:28:43:10
Sarah
I read that in the book. This actually said, you gold digging cunt and I kind of wish that they hadn't changed it.

00:28:43:13 - 00:28:55:01
Raisa
This was just extreme. Like, not at all what you would expect of these people that hold themselves so highly and dress so nicely. I mean, they probably paid someone to do that so that they dont have to get their nails dirty doing this.

00:28:55:01 - 00:28:57:20
Hadley
This is horrible. Rachel says she doesn't want to tell anyone.

00:28:57:23 - 00:29:00:01
Sarah
She doesn't want to give them the satisfaction.

00:29:00:08 - 00:29:10:21
Hadley
She and Astrid get to bond a bunch because then they go bury the fish together. Astrid shares about Michael having an affair, and they really get along well. I think Rachel will have a good ally in this family.

00:29:11:00 - 00:29:20:06
Raisa
That would have probably put it put me off quite a lot because I would think, who are you associated with? And okay, he's not like that, but everyone he's surrounded by, it's like that.

00:29:20:06 - 00:29:46:07
Hadley
Everyone seems really two faced. While all this is going on, Nick and Colin have stolen a helicopter and gone off on their own adventure. We find out Nick is going to propose to Rachel and Colin is like, Are you sure you want to marry Rachel? Because up until a year ago, this was your life plan. Are you sure you're making the choice that you can stick to? Colin brings up all of the difficulties about Rachel coming in to Nick's life. Nick seems kind of oblivious.

00:29:46:07 - 00:30:05:04
Raisa
I feel like Nick's just really thinking about his relationship with Rachel in New York and not really considering anything out of New York, which I get, but it might not be reality or not really as easy as it seems to just leave the family behind like that. It was easy to say he would not take his family's money and things, but in reality, how?

00:30:05:14 - 00:30:16:20
Hadley
Right. Because like you said before, he seems so used to this lifestyle. Flying first class is not even a second thought. But if he's not a part of the family and not carrying on the business, how is he going to be able to do that?

00:30:16:20 - 00:30:20:15
Raisa
Where is his life experience to get a job at whatever age he is?

00:30:21:05 - 00:30:27:12
Sarah
I'm just glad that they ditched the rest of the bachelor party because the other guys really suck.

00:30:27:15 - 00:30:31:07
Raisa
It doesn't really seem like it was for Colin at all, did it?

00:30:31:07 - 00:30:42:20
Sarah
When they were on the helicopter to the barge, Bernard was saying something about it takes a lot to plan a party this massive and Nick is like yeah massive asshole.

00:30:43:17 - 00:30:47:15
Raisa
Don't think there's many in the movie that I'd want to know. Just Astrid. I'd be friends with Astrid.

00:30:47:21 - 00:30:57:02
Hadley
The next day, Rachel confronts Nick about not filling her in on anything. He says, You have every reason to be upset, and she says, I'm not done yet.

00:30:57:05 - 00:31:01:22
Raisa
He got off very lightly. I think I would have been a lot madder than she was.

00:31:02:09 - 00:31:10:06
Hadley
She tells him about the party and she says everything was written on the windows in big, fat serial killer letters, which is a very apt description.

00:31:11:00 - 00:31:14:03
Sarah
And then they go make dumplings with his family.

00:31:14:08 - 00:31:16:02
Hadley
They start out having a really nice time.

00:31:16:02 - 00:31:28:01
Sarah
Rachel compliments Eleanor ring. This emerald ring is Michelle Yeoh's personal ring, which they decided to use after she didn't like the mock up of the ring they were planning to use.

00:31:28:01 - 00:31:28:22
Raisa
Oh!

00:31:28:22 - 00:31:39:02
Hadley
I read that the ring that they wanted to use was replica of one that JFK gave to Jackie as an engagement ring. So it makes sense that she would want this unique one because in the movie she says that there's no other ring like it.

00:31:39:09 - 00:31:42:23
Sarah
I want to know how much that ring cost. It's massive.

00:31:42:23 - 00:31:56:19
Raisa
Now, probably worth a lot more because it's been in the movie and spotlighted like that. I thought this was pretty savage of her to just be like, Yeah, this is the ring that his dad proposed to her with and basically is insinuated that Rachel would never see it.

00:31:56:22 - 00:32:14:16
Sarah
Eleanor explains that the ring was made when Nick's father wanted to propose to her, but Amah wouldn't let him have the family ring because Eleanor didn't come from the right family. I thought this was going to be like a sweet scene where they bonded and then Eleanor ends it with "You will never be enough".

00:32:14:16 - 00:32:18:06
Hadley
After she's like, intimidated Rachel to step down the stairs.

00:32:18:08 - 00:32:20:04
Sarah
Asserting her dominance.

00:32:20:09 - 00:32:31:14
Hadley
With this whole house scene, we get to see that the grandmother isn't really a fan of Eleanor. You think it go well being like, Hey, I was in your shoes, but it's like, Hey, I was in your shoes. You're not cut out for this.

00:32:31:15 - 00:32:42:01
Sarah
We see Amah critique Eleanor as dumplings. And so I was like, Oh, okay, they're kind of the same, so they should be able to bond over that. But Eleanor does not want to.

00:32:42:19 - 00:32:52:18
Hadley
I love the different way they make dumplings where he's like, You put the baby in the blanket, fold it up. And then Ollie's like, Well, I learned from Auntie So-and-so, and you put the Botox in the face.

00:32:53:11 - 00:32:54:21
Sarah
And pinch, pinch, pinch.

00:32:55:00 - 00:33:00:08
Hadley
He's one of the family members, if I were on his good side, I would like knowing I would not want to be on his bad side.

00:33:00:08 - 00:33:00:20
Raisa
No.

00:33:01:02 - 00:33:13:18
Sarah
And we find out that Nick grew up with Amah so that he would be the favorite. Which is kind of sad that Eleanor felt like she had to sacrifice having a close relationship with her son to have him live with their grandma.

00:33:13:20 - 00:33:24:23
Hadley
Rachel and Peik Lin go get lunch and talk about what happened. And Peik Lin has some advice, like you can get tons of money. She'll probably write you a check to leave get a few million dollars out of her.

00:33:25:04 - 00:33:26:08
Raisa
And she calls her a banana.

00:33:26:10 - 00:33:32:08
Hadley
And she calls her a chicken. And when Rachel's like, I'm going to do this. She's like, bawk, bawk, bitch.

00:33:32:15 - 00:33:35:06
Raisa
Bawk, bawk, bitch, indeed.

00:33:35:06 - 00:33:45:18
Hadley
Rachel wants to do a makeover to get ready, and she's like, What are you going to do tonight? And Peik Lin says, I was going to go to FedEx or something. Why? It's like she'd hang out at FedEx. I want to know more about her life.

00:33:45:21 - 00:33:52:16
Raisa
And do you guys get the reference of FedEx cause like for me it just a delivery services or like do you guys have a shop? What more is there to FedEx?

00:33:52:20 - 00:33:57:01
Hadley
In the U.S. they have copiers to...

00:33:57:01 - 00:33:57:15
Raisa
Okay.

00:33:57:20 - 00:34:07:21
Hadley
Thats about it. There's not a lot. I heard a lot of her lines got cut. And I'm really curious what they are. Apparently, some of them are a little too raunchy for the movie.

00:34:07:22 - 00:34:09:04
Raisa
Her outtakes would be good.

00:34:09:09 - 00:34:17:11
Sarah
Most of her lines were improvised. Peik Lin and Oliver give Rachel a makeover so she can stand up to Eleanor.

00:34:17:12 - 00:34:24:00
Hadley
Its this fun makeover montage mixed with everyone arriving at this red carpet for this amazing wedding.

00:34:24:00 - 00:34:28:11
Sarah
And the song playing is Material Girl in Cantonese.

00:34:28:14 - 00:34:31:06
Hadley
Ollie says that Eleanor can't know he was there.

00:34:31:14 - 00:34:34:04
Sarah
He doesn't want to get on her bedside. I wouldn't either.

00:34:34:09 - 00:34:44:17
Raisa
I'm just thinking how lucky she was to Peik Lin. I don't think anything in her wardrobe would be suitable for this event because she was always going to the wedding, wasn't she? So I'm curious to know what she's going to wear.

00:34:45:01 - 00:35:02:16
Hadley
And I'm curious what Nick said the attire was, because clearly all their attire is like awards ceremony attire. They arrive at the wedding and Peik Lin is her chauffeur. Ollie runs down saying, Rachel Chu New York, Rachel Chu New York. She looks stunning.

00:35:02:16 - 00:35:04:01
Sarah
She does.

00:35:04:01 - 00:35:10:18
Hadley
She walks in front of all the other women getting their pictures taken on the red carpet. And then, she tells Amanda that she's in her way.

00:35:10:18 - 00:35:13:01
Raisa
She went into this like fighting mode.

00:35:13:01 - 00:35:16:13
Hadley
I can't imagine what the pep talk in the car was like on the way there.

00:35:18:04 - 00:35:20:01
Sarah
Probably a lot of bawk bawking.

00:35:21:00 - 00:35:22:12
Hadley
Just all of them screaming that.

00:35:22:12 - 00:35:28:09
Sarah
I wish we had seen the full shot of Amanda's dress because I really liked the top of it.

00:35:28:19 - 00:35:41:05
Hadley
I did, too. Astrid and Michael are on their way to the wedding, and Astrid tells him she knows he's having an affair. He gets upset because she doesn't have a more intense reaction. She's like, Don't turn things back on me.

00:35:41:14 - 00:35:52:01
Raisa
Yeah its as if he was trying to excuse the fact by saying he's doing it for attention or like needing attention from elsewhere, well, be a grown up and speak to your wife about it.

00:35:52:01 - 00:35:53:14
Sarah
Communicate your needs.

00:35:53:19 - 00:36:03:09
Hadley
It's not her fault you had an affair. And then he again brings up how different they are financially. I feel like he's projecting all his insecurities.

00:36:03:14 - 00:36:04:20
Sarah
He needs to go to therapy.

00:36:05:10 - 00:36:21:16
Raisa
I think it goes back to that Asian culture of men being the provider and women to be more submissive. But obviously she's got all the money and he obviously feels a lot less of a man to her but then isn't really acting in a suitable way either.

00:36:21:16 - 00:36:30:02
Hadley
I'm curious how they ended up married because it's not like she suddenly made billions after they were married. She came into this relationship extremely wealthy.

00:36:30:02 - 00:36:31:22
Sarah
He knew what he was getting into.

00:36:32:08 - 00:36:36:14
Raisa
And how it was allowed from her family as well. How was he deemed worthy of her?

00:36:36:20 - 00:36:40:23
Hadley
They pull over on the side of the road and he storms out of the car. So good riddance.

00:36:40:23 - 00:36:51:17
Sarah
Apparently in the book he didn't actually have an affair. He just staged the text message for Astrid to find so that she'd be more inclined to get a divorce.

00:36:52:07 - 00:36:53:01
Raisa
Oh.

00:36:53:21 - 00:37:04:05
Sarah
It's okay to be insecure, but don't project it on to other people. Like that's for him to deal with. And she's trying to help him through it, but he's just getting mad at her.

00:37:04:18 - 00:37:20:14
Raisa
I think he totally ruined their relationship as well because she seemed to really treat him quite respectfully and be really respectful of the fact that he was insecure about the money. She tried to treat them more as equals. He could have handled the whole thing a lot better and would have come out of it a lot happier.

00:37:20:17 - 00:37:23:14
Hadley
He just seems so angry all the time.

00:37:23:19 - 00:37:27:13
Raisa
I don't think she ever would have held back her wealth from him either. I feel like she would share her wealth.

00:37:27:13 - 00:37:28:13
Hadley
Oh, absolutely.

00:37:28:14 - 00:37:30:21
Raisa
What an idiot. He lost out on so much.

00:37:31:11 - 00:37:43:04
Hadley
At the wedding, the aunties are gossiping about the wedding cost and they're like they say it costs 40 million. That's so much. We're Methodists, we're conservative. We'd only spent 20 million. And its like, Oh, okay.

00:37:43:10 - 00:37:46:17
Sarah
There are a lot of plants at this wedding.

00:37:46:17 - 00:38:03:02
Raisa
Is that a Singapore thing do you think because also they've got the airport with like a rainforest and then they've got the marina the bay that has the big indoor rainforest, so I wonder if it's a cultural thing to Singapore. Maybe it screams wealth to have all those flowers.

00:38:03:02 - 00:38:05:02
Sarah
Well if it costs $40 million.

00:38:05:08 - 00:38:07:01
Raisa
Maybe 20 million was on the flowers.

00:38:07:01 - 00:38:13:19
Hadley
Yeah. Eleanor and the aunties tell Rachel that their row is full and she'll have to sit somewhere else.

00:38:14:09 - 00:38:19:09
Sarah
I would not be able to handle this like Rachel is. I'd probably cry.

00:38:19:12 - 00:38:21:18
Raisa
Like, well I dont want to sit with you guys anyways!

00:38:22:02 - 00:38:38:04
Hadley
Rachel has made friends with the princess who wanted her own row, and she talks about how the princess wrote an economics paper and Rachel loved it. And they bond and everyone is like, Wait, how are they doing that? Why is she talking to the princess? Why is the princess talking to her?

00:38:38:12 - 00:38:42:23
Raisa
I didn't quite understand the water aisle cause I was like, Is her dress just not going to wet?

00:38:42:23 - 00:38:44:02
Hadley
I thought about that too!

00:38:44:02 - 00:38:49:02
Raisa
Walking through water and then its going to travel up as well. This is beyond me, this one.

00:38:49:02 - 00:38:56:06
Sarah
I liked how it looked. I didn't think it was very practical, but it looked very cool when the water came rushing in.

00:38:56:13 - 00:39:07:20
Hadley
It did. And I do think that they are all about the looks and less about the practicality. So. It was a beautiful wedding. If I had $40 million, I would also have a wedding like this.

00:39:07:22 - 00:39:10:13
Sarah
I don't know if that's what I'd spend my 40 million on, but.

00:39:11:04 - 00:39:17:23
Raisa
I was going to say I was like, If you had 40 million, you'd be skint in after this. So.

00:39:17:23 - 00:39:22:10
Hadley
I'd have to have more than 40 million and be like, Oh, it's only $40 million. It's fine.

00:39:22:20 - 00:39:24:00
Sarah
Chump change.

00:39:24:13 - 00:39:26:15
Hadley
I can't even imagine being that wealthy.

00:39:27:02 - 00:39:30:03
Sarah
The wedding reception is at Gardens By The Bay.

00:39:30:13 - 00:39:32:10
Raisa
So we've been there at night.

00:39:32:10 - 00:39:33:20
Sarah
And we saw the light show.

00:39:33:23 - 00:39:34:16
Raisa
Very cool.

00:39:35:08 - 00:39:39:04
Sarah
It was cool to see them sync up with the music that they played.

00:39:39:08 - 00:39:40:00
Hadley
That's awesome.

00:39:40:09 - 00:39:44:04
Sarah
Araminta's outfit makes her look like a flapper.

00:39:44:04 - 00:39:45:11
Hadley
It does!

00:39:45:11 - 00:39:58:10
Sarah
Rachel and Nick go talk to Amah and Eleanor. Amah says Rachel will ruin Nick with her ambition, which I was not expecting since their last interaction was pretty positive.

00:39:58:13 - 00:40:00:02
Raisa
What about that auspicious nose?

00:40:00:05 - 00:40:17:02
Sarah
Eleanor hired a private investigator and discovered that Rachel's mom cheated on her husband, got pregnant with another man and ran away to America. She says that Rachel lied about her father being dead and this scandal would destroy their reputation. But Rachel didn't even know this.

00:40:17:02 - 00:40:23:06
Raisa
This is a horrible way to find out the truth about her family. It would feel like she's lost two things at once there.

00:40:23:16 - 00:40:26:19
Hadley
Amah blames Eleanor for this whole thing happening.

00:40:26:19 - 00:40:27:08
Raisa
Standard

00:40:27:14 - 00:40:31:00
Hadley
Eleanor didn't even know this woman existed until, like, three days ago.

00:40:31:11 - 00:40:32:23
Raisa
Still, I feel bad for Eleanor.

00:40:33:12 - 00:40:39:19
Hadley
I know Eleanor's mean to Rachel and kind of everyone, but in a way, I kind of get what she's trying to say.

00:40:39:22 - 00:40:53:12
Sarah
Eleanor has to deal with Amah being mean to her, so it makes sense that she would then turn around and try to feel power over someone else because she feels so powerless in this relationship with Amah. Not right. It's not good. But.

00:40:53:12 - 00:40:53:19
Raisa
No.

00:40:53:19 - 00:40:55:19
Hadley
But logical.

00:40:55:19 - 00:41:06:14
Raisa
You'd think that she would be like, Oh, this sucks. I would never treat someone like this. But actually the power is, like you say, gone to her head, because now she's in Amah's position where she could be a bitch and tell someone that they're not good enough.

00:41:06:14 - 00:41:10:16
Sarah
Rachel says she wants nothing to do with this family and runs away.

00:41:11:00 - 00:41:14:03
Raisa
This is about like days later than I would have said that.

00:41:14:23 - 00:41:18:06
Hadley
She runs off to Peik Lin's house. Rachel wallows.

00:41:18:14 - 00:41:20:05
Sarah
Stays in bed for days.

00:41:20:12 - 00:41:26:02
Hadley
The kids bring her food and she ignores all of Nick's calls. Props to everyone for giving her her space.

00:41:26:02 - 00:41:36:04
Raisa
It was nice she had this little sanctuary to just wallow and process. Imagine if Peik Lin wasn't there, she would have had to found a hotel or found a flight. That was quite nice.

00:41:36:12 - 00:41:37:13
Hadley
Her mom shows up.

00:41:37:21 - 00:41:44:22
Sarah
Rachel confronts her mom about what the P.I. found and her mom's story is so sad.

00:41:44:22 - 00:42:04:00
Hadley
It is. She said she had an abusive husband and fell in love with her friend, got pregnant and then was afraid of the husband hurting them all. So she ran away and never told the friend she was pregnant because she didn't want the contact to come back to the husband because she was afraid he'd kill them all. Kind of makes sense to me that she didn't tell Rachel earlier.

00:42:04:00 - 00:42:12:20
Raisa
Probably didn't want Rachel to know how horrible her dad was. Just kind of leave like an unknown. Yes, they were a fine person, but you're not going to get to meet them because they died.

00:42:13:03 - 00:42:17:13
Hadley
This whole situation seems like everyone's understanding and I'm glad it goes well.

00:42:18:01 - 00:42:26:05
Sarah
We find out that Nick called Rachel's mom and flew her out and so her mom suggests that Rachel talk to Nick before they leave.

00:42:26:19 - 00:42:38:18
Hadley
He apologizes and then he proposes and says he'll leave everything behind for her, which I don't know about you guys, but I don't like that. Like, if someone were like, I'm going to leave my whole life behind for you, I'd be like mmm.

00:42:39:01 - 00:42:50:10
Raisa
I think you'd worry that eventually there would be resentment and not really sustainable, especially if there were to resolve things in the future, then she would look like the bad guy. Not very well thought out, Nick.

00:42:50:22 - 00:42:57:19
Hadley
He doesn't seem malicious. He just seems clueless. Rachel goes to meet Eleanor at the little mahjong parlor.

00:42:58:01 - 00:43:04:04
Sarah
I want to learn how to actually play mahjong. I've, like, played it on a computer, but it's very different.

00:43:04:11 - 00:43:10:03
Raisa
I was thinking that I used to play on a very old windows desk top like 15 years ago.

00:43:10:18 - 00:43:22:00
Hadley
Rachel asks Eleanor why she didn't like her when she got there, before she even knew her. And Eleanor says that Rachel is not their kind and she's foreign, and Americans only think of their own happiness.

00:43:22:12 - 00:43:24:15
Raisa
Blunt.

00:43:24:15 - 00:43:29:07
Sarah
Americans are very selfish, which is not always a bad thing, but sometimes it is.

00:43:29:13 - 00:43:51:19
Raisa
I think it's like a clash of culture there as well, isn't it? Traditional Asian culture is very family orientated gender roles. And Rachel, we've already seen she's against the norm. She doesn't conform. She's a lecturer, she's educated in more traditional male job with economics, so she's already completely off script for a what they would want her to be.

00:43:52:01 - 00:44:11:10
Sarah
I wonder if there is maybe some jealousy from Eleanor also, because we learned that she went to law school but gave up her career to have a family. And so maybe she's jealous that Rachel has all this freedom and is allowed to follow her ambition while also getting the man of her dreams.

00:44:11:20 - 00:44:28:22
Hadley
That's a really good observation. Rachel drops the bomb that Nick proposed and that she said no and that she knows that she's enough, but doesn't want Nick to lose his mom. And she tells Eleanor that in the future, when Eleanor gets what she wants, she'll have to know it was because of Rachel.

00:44:29:04 - 00:44:45:01
Raisa
Rachel is coming out strong here, like she's handling this so well. Imagine being proposed to like by the love of your life, having to say no cause he comes from a freak show of family and then going and confronting the mom to be like, because of you, I cannot marry him, but, you know, good luck.

00:44:45:15 - 00:45:03:20
Sarah
So I don't know how to play mahjong, but I did read that the tile that Rachel discarded and Eleanor took that gave her the winning hand would have also been the winning tile for Rachel. So she let Eleanor win. So it kind of goes with everything she was saying at that point. I like that Rachel's mom was there, too.

00:45:04:06 - 00:45:08:23
Hadley
She had a nice, long stare off with Eleanor. Then we see Astrid move out.

00:45:09:02 - 00:45:12:05
Raisa
Is this where she says that she will go to one of her 14 apartments?

00:45:12:09 - 00:45:17:19
Hadley
She's like, You bought this apartment, you keep it. It's not my job to make you feel like a man. I can't make you something you're not.

00:45:18:02 - 00:45:20:11
Sarah
Yes. Yeah, I loved that.

00:45:20:11 - 00:45:22:04
Raisa
Finally, telling him the truth.

00:45:22:14 - 00:46:09:16
Hadley
She puts on her earrings and leaves. Rachel leaves Peik Lin's house and Peik Lin tells her you have nothing, no net worth, but you have integrity. I watched this movie with subtitles on, and for most of the songs it said what language they were sang in, like Cantonese or Mandarin. But when they played the song during this scene, which is Yellow by Coldplay, it just said Yellow sung in Asian language. It's like, mmm, I think you can be a little more specific. There's like a million languages in Asia. Coldplay was reluctant to have their song in the movie because they had been accused of cultural appropriation in another one of their songs. But the director, Jon Chu, convinced them because he wanted to reclaim the word from its use as a racial slur.

00:46:09:16 - 00:46:15:19
Raisa
I think then the subtitles have completely just undone all the hard work fighting. Asian language.

00:46:16:16 - 00:46:25:12
Sarah
I was just so surprised when I saw that I was like, You were able to figure out that the other ones were Cantonese and Mandarin. What happened? I just got lazy, I guess.

00:46:25:17 - 00:46:37:00
Hadley
Rachel and her mom are flying back in economy. And Nick shows up and proposes again with Eleanor's ring and the woman behind her is like, Yeah, yeah, she'll marry you.

00:46:37:02 - 00:46:38:10
Raisa
It was quite cute.

00:46:38:10 - 00:46:40:03
Sarah
This was very romantic.

00:46:40:06 - 00:46:41:19
Hadley
And then they have their engagement party.

00:46:42:07 - 00:46:44:04
Sarah
At Marina Bay Sands.

00:46:44:12 - 00:46:52:19
Raisa
Which just shows the wealth, doesn't it. Because there's not really that many other places in Singapore that they'd be able to highlight so well and show off that well.

00:46:53:10 - 00:46:59:05
Hadley
Rachel gets a little nod of approval from Eleanor or like a nod of acceptance, I would say.

00:47:00:00 - 00:47:04:18
Raisa
Isn't she wearing Eleanor's ring at this point as well? I bet that hurt her taking it off her finger, didnt it.

00:47:05:04 - 00:47:11:05
Hadley
Probably. Knowing where it was going. And then we have our credits scene and Astrid makes eyes at a new guy.

00:47:11:06 - 00:47:13:12
Sarah
Harry Shum Jr. from Glee.

00:47:13:20 - 00:47:16:15
Hadley
Okay. I was going to say he looks insanely familiar.

00:47:17:05 - 00:47:21:16
Sarah
This is the setup for the sequel. China Rich Girlfriend.

00:47:21:16 - 00:47:22:09
Raisa
Oh!

00:47:22:09 - 00:47:26:05
Sarah
He plays a much bigger role in the next two movies.

00:47:26:16 - 00:47:28:23
Raisa
Oh, when is this movie coming out? I didn't know there was a sequel.

00:47:29:10 - 00:47:48:05
Sarah
I didn't see any dates. But it said it has been confirmed that there will be a sequel. This movie was praised in the US for its casting, for making history for Asian-American representation. But I saw that it was also criticized for not exclusively using actors of Chinese descent.

00:47:48:16 - 00:47:52:22
Raisa
Do you think the critique was that it was like just general Asian, not specific.

00:47:53:08 - 00:47:58:18
Hadley
I wonder if they'll change that for the next one if they have new cast members.

00:47:59:04 - 00:48:04:20
Sarah
The book had a different ending. Nick denounced his family in order to be with Rachel.

00:48:05:06 - 00:48:13:18
Hadley
I'm glad they went with the movie ending. That would have been so hard for Rachel because Nick was clearly very close with his family. I don't know about in the book, but in the movie.

00:48:13:20 - 00:48:27:04
Raisa
It kind of goes like that naïveté again that he thinks like the short term, like, okay, I'll just leave them for you. And then always thinking about the very, very short term, but like in the long run you'd probably resent her or miss them, and that would just cause more dramas, wouldn't it.

00:48:27:20 - 00:48:32:20
Sarah
The cast had a dumpling making party when they first arrived on set as an icebreaker.

00:48:33:01 - 00:48:34:00
Hadley
Oh, cute.

00:48:34:05 - 00:48:37:00
Sarah
And because they had to learn how to make dumplings for the movie.

00:48:37:00 - 00:48:37:20
Hadley
Oh, I love that.

00:48:38:02 - 00:48:38:17
Raisa
Very cool.

00:48:39:04 - 00:48:45:01
Sarah
I learned how to make dumplings in Nepal and it is hard to pinch them just right.

00:48:45:11 - 00:48:46:18
Hadley
I'd love to learn to make them.

00:48:46:21 - 00:48:56:14
Sarah
It's also a lot of work to make dumplings and I just like inhale them. So I don't really want to put that much effort into making them.

00:48:56:14 - 00:48:57:15
Raisa
I do like a dumpling.

00:48:57:23 - 00:49:08:13
Sarah
I have to get dumplings for dinner. Our song pairing for Crazy Rich Asians is Rich Boy by Galantis.

00:49:08:19 - 00:49:18:17
Hadley
The lyrics say, I don't need a rich boy. I don't want your money. No, you don't got to spend nothing on me. All I want is sweet, sweet love. Which Rachel doesn't want Nick's money. She just wants him.

00:49:19:02 - 00:49:25:22
Sarah
She doesn't care about his money at all. I feel like Rachel should sing this song to Nick's Mom.

00:49:26:07 - 00:49:30:12
Hadley
Do like a boombox over the head outside the palace.

00:49:30:12 - 00:49:34:16
Sarah
I don't need your son because he's rich. I want him because I like him.

00:49:35:23 - 00:49:49:01
Hadley
That's a wrap on Crazy Rich Asians. Make sure to subscribe so you can travel to Spain with us next time. As we recap, one of our favorite Netflix rom coms, Ibiza which is now called Ibiza: Love Drunk. See you then, Love bugs!