It claimed the Oscar for Best Picture—and, also, the best dildo fight scene of 2022. The action comedy is able to play with such absurdities by having Michelle Yeoh—playing a laundromat owner struggling with her business, depression, and her family—seek answers through an alternate universe. A fight scene choreographed around a sex toy is just one of many action-and-sci-fi-comedy tangents in which the film relishes as it sways and jolts through universes, relationships, and trials—both real and imagined. But the real journey here is in the performances, from Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan (Yeoh’s husband, who is serving her divorce papers), and Stephanie Hsu (who plays her estranged daughter), who ground this otherworldly familial farce in the bedrock of truth and heart.
First off, it’s important to say: this movie is batshit. It probably should not have been made. Will Ferrell as a romantic lead is…strange. It’s too long. It’s too weird. And then oddly self-serious.
It’s a mess, but a glorious one. And not only is family-friendly, but well worth your two hours regardless. The tale of best friends Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (Rachel McAdams), who hail from a tiny town in Iceland and dream of winning the Eurovision music competition has everything you want in a comedy: adventures, Dickensian coincidences, contemporary pop, countless nods to ABBA, mythology, hope, success in the face of failure, and magical elves who kill a man by stabbing him in the back. Again: it’s a mess. But as far the best comedies on Netflix go, it’s hard to find one that will leave you feeling better. Also, not for nothing, the songs are really fun.
