---
title: "Crazy Rich Asians"
year: 2018
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/crazy-rich-asians"
fi1m_id: "crazy-rich-asians"
imdb_id: "tt3104988"
tmdb_id: 455207
wikidata_id: "Q29588623"
fi1m_score: 74
critics_score: 77
critics_reviews: 25
published: "2026-09-27T08:26:06.171989+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-27T08:26:07.112416+00:00"
region: "DK"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Directed by Jon M. Chu · 2h 01m · Comedy, Romance

## Identity

Crazy Rich Asians

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/crazy-rich-asians
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** crazy-rich-asians
- **IMDb ID:** tt3104988
- **TMDB ID:** 455207
- **Wikidata ID:** Q29588623
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3104988/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/455207, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29588623

**Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 77 from 25 reviews

*In a sentence:* Meet the parents, except the parents own half of Singapore and the mother has met your type before

> Jon M. Chu’s romantic comedy is warm, well dressed and funnier than its premise needs, with Michelle Yeoh doing the hard work. It also wants us to see through its money and cannot stop admiring it, and the ending is softer than it should be.

## Synopsis

Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), an economics professor in New York, has been seeing Nick Young (Henry Golding) for a year without learning much about his family. He invites her to Singapore for the wedding of his best friend Colin Khoo (Chris Pang) to Araminta Lee (Sonoya Mizuno), and she finds herself in a first-class cabin wondering who is paying. Nick, it turns out, comes from one of the richest families in Asia. In Singapore Rachel stays with her old college friend Peik Lin Goh (Awkwafina) and her father Wye Mun Goh (Ken Jeong), eats at the hawker stalls, and is driven to the Young mansion for a party. There Nick’s mother Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) receives her with perfect manners and no warmth, his grandmother Ah Ma (Lisa Lu) presides, and his cousin Astrid (Gemma Chan) has troubles of her own.

## Review

Jon M. Chu has made an old kind of film. The outsider is brought home to meet the family, the family has money, and the mother does not approve. Kevin Kwan’s novel supplied the money; Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli’s script keeps the shape. What is new is where it happens and who is in it. Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), an economics professor in New York, flies to Singapore with Nick Young (Henry Golding) for his best friend’s wedding and starts to work out on the plane that he is heir to one of the richest families in Asia. It is a good-natured, well-made, often funny film that looks at enormous wealth and finds it mostly lovely. We enjoyed it, we recommend it, and we did not believe its lesson for a minute.

Myron Kerstein’s editing does its best work in the first ten minutes. Nick and Rachel are photographed in a New York restaurant and the news crosses the world in a chain of texts and calls, cut as fast as thumbs can move, so we know what the Youngs are before we have met one. Vanja Černjul then shoots Singapore the way a tourist board would if it had taste: hawker stalls under strip lights and steam, the Marina Bay towers lit across the water, and Nelson Coates’s Young mansion, a colonial pile with lanterns strung over the lawn. Mary E. Vogt dresses Michelle Yeoh’s Eleanor in silk and jade and never once lets her look surprised by a room.

Wu gives the film its centre. Rachel is clever, unimpressed and out of her depth, and Wu plays all three at once. Yeoh’s Eleanor is the performance, though. At their first meeting, at a party on the lawn, Eleanor asks about Rachel’s mother, hears that she came from China alone and raised a daughter to follow her passion, and says, “how American.” Yeoh makes two words do a page of work. There is a kitchen scene later, which we will not describe, where Eleanor explains what the family cost her, and Yeoh does not soften it or ask to be liked. We had come in ready to dislike her and for several minutes we were on her side. It was how little she does with her face that did it: the eyes go flat and she trusts us to fill in the rest.

The supporting cast carry the comedy. Awkwafina’s Peik Lin, Rachel’s college friend, lives in a house that is gold from the floor up, and Ken Jeong, as her father, gets his laughs by being the most embarrassing man at his own dinner table. Ronny Chieng and Jimmy O. Yang play relations who exist to be awful, and are. Henry Golding is handsome, pleasant and slightly blank; Nick is the man everything happens around, and Golding does not find much to do with him except look sorry, which he does well.

The trouble is the money. The script opens with Rachel teaching game theory, and then Chu films every jet, yacht and party as though he had been asked to sell them. The film means to say that the wealth is empty and the people inside it unhappy, and it says so, out loud, more than once. Černjul’s camera does not agree; it lingers on the shoes. Gemma Chan’s Astrid has the one storyline that takes the point seriously, a marriage going wrong in an expensive flat, and the film keeps leaving her for another party. We felt our attention go every time it came back to her, not because Chan is dull, she is not, but because Lim and Chiarelli never give her a scene that lands. Brian Tyler’s score swoons on cue, and the last twenty minutes swoon with it. The ending is sweeter than anything that came before it.

Against the genre it sits above most studio romantic comedies of its decade, which is not saying a great deal, and below the comedies of manners it borrows from. Most critics have been a little warmer than we are, and we can see why: a Hollywood romantic comedy led entirely by Asian actors was rare enough that the fact of it was news, and the film carries that lightly and well. That is a fact about the industry, though, not about the script.

It runs 121 minutes and contains a wedding, a stag weekend, a hen weekend and a great many dumplings. You will want to book a flight before the credits, and we suspect that was at least half the point.

*Fi1m score 74, published 27 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews lean clearly positive, with nineteen of twenty-five in favour and none against. Most critics find it a charming, energetic romantic comedy that does the familiar thing well, and many treat it as a milestone for an Asian-led cast. The praise gathers around the women: Constance Wu’s grounded, intelligent Rachel, Michelle Yeoh’s disapproving mother, and Awkwafina’s comic turns. The mahjong confrontation between Rachel and Eleanor is repeatedly singled out as the film’s sharpest scene.

The reservations are consistent. Several call the script uneven and the story conventional, say Astrid’s subplot is thin, and find the ending sweeter than it needs to be. The commonest complaint is that the film admires the wealth it might have questioned; Vulture argues it undercuts its sharper ideas by returning to the spectacle of money. The spread is narrow, with the coolest voice at The Ringer, which grants the film its cultural significance but finds it neither revolutionary nor formally ambitious.

## Straight answers

**Is Crazy Rich Asians worth watching?**

*Crazy Rich Asians* is worth watching for anyone who wants a warm, well-dressed romantic comedy with a better cast than the genre usually gets, and we scored it 74. Michelle Yeoh gives the performance, Constance Wu holds the centre, and the jokes land. Its lesson about money rings false, and the ending is softer than it should be.

**How long is Crazy Rich Asians, and what is it rated?**

*Crazy Rich Asians* runs 2h 01m. It is a comedy and romance film.

**Where can I watch Crazy Rich Asians in Denmark?**

*Crazy Rich Asians* is streaming on Netflix in Denmark, and it is also available to rent from Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video from kr 39.00. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Crazy Rich Asians, and is it suitable for children?**

*Crazy Rich Asians* is a UK 12 romantic comedy with no violence to speak of and nothing frightening in it. The certificate reflects adult humour around a stag weekend and a hen weekend, and a marriage going wrong, rather than anything alarming. Teenagers will be fine; younger children are more likely to be bored by the family politics than upset by them.

**How does Crazy Rich Asians compare to The Philadelphia Story?**

*Crazy Rich Asians* tells the same joke as [*The Philadelphia Story*](https://film.one/film/the-philadelphia-story), a rich family, a wedding weekend and an outsider taking notes, and the older film tells it more sharply. Cukor's comedy is the better of the two for wit and for its three leads, though its treatment of Tracy Lord dates it. Chu's film is warmer, easier and more forgiving of its money.

**Is Crazy Rich Asians based on a true story or a book?**

*Crazy Rich Asians* is based on Kevin Kwan's novel of the same name, not on a true story. Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli's script keeps the book's shape, the outsider brought home to a disapproving family, and adds nothing you need to know beforehand. Newcomers to the novel will follow every scene without help.

**What should I watch after Crazy Rich Asians?**

After *Crazy Rich Asians*, try [*The Philadelphia Story*](https://film.one/film/the-philadelphia-story) (1940, Fi1m 84): Rich family, wedding weekend, an outsider with a notebook; the same joke, sharper. Then [*Monsoon Wedding*](https://film.one/film/monsoon-wedding) (2001, Fi1m 80): Mira Nair’s Delhi wedding, where the money is smaller and the family is louder; and [*The Farewell*](https://film.one/film/the-farewell) (2019, Fi1m 84): Awkwafina again, in a quieter film about what a family decides not to say.

### Reviews we read (25)

- **Time Out**, Danny Yu (5/5): The review is strongly positive, describing the film as full of attitude and heart. It praises the film’s energetic take on an Asian-centric romantic comedy. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/crazy-rich-asians)
- **Empire**, Olly Richards (90/100, inferred): Richards calls it a romcom milestone and one of the decade’s best, praising its charm and deftly balanced ensemble. He singles out Awkwafina’s performance and the film’s lively portrayal of cultural change. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/crazy-rich-asians-review/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (90/100, inferred): Rooney finds the film a captivating, uplifting romantic comedy that makes its extravagant setting serve a heartfelt story. He praises Constance Wu’s grounded performance and the chemistry she shares with Henry Golding. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/crazy-rich-asians-1133077/)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (Critic's Pick): Debruge praises the film as a broadly appealing, sparkling romance that balances extravagant wealth with a grounded heroine. He particularly singles out Constance Wu’s intelligent, self-reliant Rachel and her integrity in the mahjong scene. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/crazy-rich-asians-review-1202900373/)
- **The AV Club**, Caroline Siede (B+): Siede finds the film a stylish, emotionally grounded rom-com whose familiar story is elevated by its perspective and exuberance. She especially praises Michelle Yeoh’s layered performance and the film’s sumptuous visual spectacle. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/crazy-rich-asians-has-so-much-rom-com-razzle-dazzle-it-1828263610)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (4/5): O’Sullivan finds the film less funny than Bridesmaids but leaves it with an unexpectedly pleased grin. She praises the gripping, moving women’s performances and the mother-daughter relationship that refreshes the rom-com formula. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/crazy-rich-asians-review-super-luxe-take-on-an-old-rom-com-formula-a3935691.html)
- **Little White Lies**, Patrick Sproull (3/4/4): Sproull finds the film a consistently entertaining, creatively handled rom-com and a watershed for diversity. He especially praises Michelle Yeoh’s nuanced performance and Chu’s visual spectacle. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/crazy-rich-asians)
- **Radio Times**, Victoria Luxford (4/5): The review describes the film as a vibrant, funny comedy of manners and a very modern Cinderella story. It singles out Michelle Yeoh’s excellent performance as the disapproving mother and villain. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-jprnqf/crazy-rich-asians/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (4/5): Bradshaw finds the film highly entertaining, extravagant and good-natured, while noting its lack of subtlety. He praises Michelle Yeoh’s showstopping performance and the funny supporting turns, especially Awkwafina’s. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/13/crazy-rich-asians-review-jon-m-chu-constance-wu)
- **Slant Magazine**, Derek Smith (3/4): Smith finds the film shrewd and often hilarious in its exploration of cultural and generational tensions, though its opulence and detached subplots weaken it. He especially praises its nuanced portrayal of the clash between Rachel and Eleanor and the cultural shifts behind it. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/crazy-rich-asians/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (72/100, inferred): Chang calls the film a flawed but vital milestone, praising its exuberant cultural representation while noting its uneven script. He singles out Michelle Yeoh’s crisp, vulnerable performance as especially powerful. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-crazy-rich-asians-review-20180808-story.html)
- **The New Yorker** (70/100, inferred): The critic finds it a hearty but familiar romantic fable. The energetic cast, especially Awkwafina and Nico Santos, lifts the conventional story with sharp comic moments. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/crazy-rich-asians)
- **Film Comment**, Michael Sragow (65/100, inferred): The standfirst frames the film as an energetic comedic romance but gives no clear overall verdict. It highlights the protagonist's reckoning with the codes and cliques of the elite. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/deep-focus-crazy-rich-asians/)
- **RogerEbert.com** (65/100, inferred): The page appears to be a review of the film, but its text is inaccessible. No verdict or specific praise or complaint can be verified from the available page. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/crazy-rich-asians-2018)
- **The New York Times** (65/100, inferred): The page content is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No specific praise or complaint can be verified from the available text. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/movies/crazy-rich-asians-review.html)
- **Vulture**, Emily Yoshida (65/100, inferred): Yoshida finds the film appealing but ultimately undercuts its sharper ideas by returning to the spectacle of wealth. She especially praises the mah-jongg confrontation between Rachel and Eleanor as a smart, heartfelt climax. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/crazy-rich-asians-review.html)
- **Screen Daily**, Tim Grierson (64/100, inferred): The critic’s verdict cannot be determined from the accessible page. The standfirst notes the adaptation’s box-office potential but reveals no specific praise or complaint. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/crazy-rich-asians-review/5131485.article)
- **Den of Geek**, Kayti Burt (4.5/5): The critic calls the film a multifaceted delight that succeeds as both a romantic comedy and a story about identity and family. She particularly praises Constance Wu’s performance and the chemistry between the leads. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/crazy-rich-asians-review/)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (B+): Goldberg finds the film a fun, vibrant romance that handles culture and heritage with care. He praises the cast’s chemistry and Awkwafina’s comic energy, while noting that the displays of wealth sometimes distract from the characters. [Read](https://collider.com/crazy-rich-asians-review/)
- **The Skinny**, Kelli Weston (★★★★): Weston finds the rom-com charming and winningly heartfelt, while noting its portrait of wealth lacks complexity. She praises Constance Wu’s magnetic screen presence and singles out the Mahjong showdown as especially sharp. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/crazy-rich-asians)
- **The Wrap** (80/100, inferred): The critic calls the film an engaging, cinematically enticing landmark that tells a familiar romantic-comedy story with cultural specificity. They praise Constance Wu’s performance and the caliber of the all-Asian cast, while noting that Astrid’s subplot is not compelling enough. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/crazy-rich-asians-film-review-constance-wu-emerges-as-a-major-star-in-culturally-rich-romantic-comedy/)
- **/Film**, Karen Han (8 out of 10): Han calls the film a joy, while noting that its ending is saccharine and some storylines remain unaddressed. She particularly praises its cultural specificity and the pleasure of seeing so many Asian actors on screen. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/560304/crazy-rich-asians-review/)
- **Consequence**, Dominick Suzanne-Mayer (75/100, inferred): The critic finds it a charming, energetic romantic comedy that mostly breezes past its celebration of wealth and privilege. They single out Constance Wu’s radiant performance and praise the film’s colorful style and emotionally authentic cultural perspective. [Read](https://consequence.net/2018/08/film-review-crazy-rich-asians/)
- **Paste**, Kyle Turner (7.5/10): Turner finds the film’s cultural observations perceptive and moving, despite its comparatively weak critique of wealth. He especially praises Constance Wu’s emotionally intelligent performance and ability to convey Rachel’s in-betweenness. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/crazy-rich-asians/crazy-rich-asians)
- **The Ringer**, Jane Hu (55/100, inferred): Hu sees the film as culturally significant but not especially revolutionary or formally ambitious. She praises its visual spectacle and points to its portrayal of Singapore as an alternate modernity. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2018/08/15/movies/crazy-rich-asians-review-black-panther-hollywood-representation)

## Details

- **Director:** Jon M. Chu
- **Director:** Jon M. Chu
- **Screenplay:** Peter Chiarelli, Adele Lim
- **Novel:** Kevin Kwan
- **Cinematography:** Vanja Černjul
- **Editor:** Myron Kerstein
- **Music:** Brian Tyler
- **Production design:** Nelson Coates
- **Costume design:** Mary E. Vogt
- **Producer:** Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, John Penotti
- **Cast:** Constance Wu as Rachel Chu; Henry Golding as Nick Young; Michelle Yeoh as Eleanor Young; Gemma Chan as Astrid Young Teo; Lisa Lu as Ah Ma; Awkwafina as Peik Lin Goh; Harry Shum Jr. as Charlie Wu; Ken Jeong as Wye Mun Goh
- **Runtime:** 2h 01m
- **First release (the US):** 7 August 2018
- **Genres:** Comedy, Romance
- **Also in:** [Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-comedy.md) (Nominee, 2018)
- **Budget:** $30 million
- **Box office:** $239 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ-YX-5bAs0

## Where to watch in Denmark

- Netflix: streaming
- Apple TV: rent kr 39.00, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent kr 39.00, uhd
- Apple TV: buy kr 99.00, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy kr 99.00, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-27.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Philadelphia Story* (1940), Fi1m 84: Rich family, wedding weekend, an outsider with a notebook; the same joke, sharper. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-philadelphia-story.md)
- *Monsoon Wedding* (2001), Fi1m 80: Mira Nair’s Delhi wedding, where the money is smaller and the family is louder. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/monsoon-wedding.md)
- *Eat Drink Man Woman* (1994): Ang Lee’s Taipei chef and his daughters; the food scenes this film is chasing.
- *The Farewell* (2019), Fi1m 84: Awkwafina again, in a quieter film about what a family decides not to say. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-farewell.md)
- *Meet the Parents* (2000), Fi1m 78: The disapproving in-law as horror comedy, with Robert De Niro instead of Michelle Yeoh. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/meet-the-parents.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/crazy-rich-asians