Thanks to streaming services like Netflix, Asian films have become more accessible to international viewers. While Asian films have always exhibited remarkable stories of culture, over the last few years, an influx of Asian films has finally begun to be recognized by Americans. Indeed, the most decorated film on this list is Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite. The Korean film won four Academy Awards, including a history-making Best Picture and Best International Feature Film. Most recently, Raya and the Last Dragon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, but ultimately lost out to Encanto.

Gemma Chan, a Chinese-British actress has starred in two of the films on this list, Crazy Rich Asians and Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she has recently been attached to the upcoming Anna May Wong biopic. While the list of great Asian films extends beyond the movies included, let’s take a look at a few of the best movies with an ensemble cast of Asian characters.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

7 Crazy Rich Asians

     Warner Bros.

Rachel Chu is an American-born Chinese professor who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick for his friend’s wedding. When they get there, Rachel learns that Nick’s family is extremely wealthy and a highly regarded bachelor — two things he neglected to tell Rachel about. Rachel is under constant attack from Nick’s family and friends for her less affluent lifestyle in New York, forcing Rachel to decide if her relationship is worth it.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Crazy Rich Asians is based on the best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan. The film boasts a great cast including Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, and Ken Jeong, to name a few. The rom-com is fun to watch and, more significantly, kick-started the recent surge in Asian-American-led projects in Hollywood, as outlined by Time.

6 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

     Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Shang-Chi is a master of martial arts, a trait he thought he left behind when he was 14. Years later, working as a valet, his past comes back to haunt him when the Ten Rings Organization attacks. It’s up to him and his friend Katy to stop them.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was met with high praise, including an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. Simu Liu, whom you may know from the show Kim’s Convenience, stars as Shang-Chi. More importantly, Shang-Chi was the first Asian-led Marvel superhero film. Marvel’s track record with Asian characters and cultures wasn’t always the best prior to this film, but with an ensemble cast that includes Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, among others, it’s clear that the MCU is taking the right steps to make up for its past mistakes.

5 The Farewell

     A24

Billi is trying to establish herself as a writer. The young Chinese-American living in New York City still keeps close contact with her Nai Nai who lives in China. When Billi’s family learns Nai Nai has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and only has a few months to live, they decide to not tell Nai Nai of her ailment (as is custom in China). Instead, they plan a “wedding” so that the family can get together one last time.

The 2019 comedy-drama, stars Awkwafina as Billi. The Farewell is based on real-life events in director and screenwriter Lulu Wang’s life. The clash of cultures and the relationship between Billi and her grandmother help give sentimental value to the movie. Of course, true to Awkwafina’s nature, there are as many comedic moments to enjoy as well.

4 Better Luck Tomorrow

     MTV Films

A group of “overachieving” East Asian American high schoolers lives a double life. Being a perfectionist is tough, so the group doubles in petty crimes and mischief. As their double life becomes harder to conceal, the gang finds themselves in a downward spiral.

Better Luck Tomorrow is a 2002 crime drama that first hit theaters, thanks to its success at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. A fun fact about this film: the character of Han can be found in the 2006 film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

3 Parasite

     CJ Entertainment

The Kim family is a poor family living in a half-basement apartment. When the son, Ki-woo is offered a tutoring job for a wealthy family, he devises a plan to slowly infiltrate the Park family. The Kim family takes on the roles of tutors, driver, and housekeeper. When the owners leave the house on vacation, they move in, literally, and change the lives of everyone involved.

Parasite looks at the controversial topics of greed and class discrimination. The use of “parasite” as the title comes from the way in which the Kim family invades, much as a parasite would. The entire cast, including directors, writers, and producers are of the most talented in Korea’s film industry, making this film the ideal candidate for the best ensemble of Asian characters.

2 The Joy Luck Club

     Hollywood Pictures

The Joy Luck Club follows the life histories of four East Asian women and their daughters. The mothers were born in China while the daughters were all born in America. Through a series of flashbacks and present time, the story of the four mothers is told during a party.

As the oldest film on this list, The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 classic. The drama touches on the hardships between mothers and daughters and the Asian-American culture rift. The film is based on a novel by the same name written by Amy Tan who also assisted with the screenplay for the movie adaptation.

1 Raya and the Last Dragon

Raya and the Last Dragon takes place in a fantasy world called Kumandra where humans and dragons lived together in harmony until sinister monsters called Druun tried to invade, causing the dragons to sacrifice themselves to save the humans. The Druun has returned 500 years later, and it’s up to Raya to track down the last dragon and stop the monsters once and for all.

The ensemble list for the 2021 Disney film is packed with popular actors, including Sandra Oh, Awkwafina, Kelly Marie Tran, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, and Benedict Wong, to name a few. The Oscar-nominated film based its fantasy world on many Southeast Asian countries. The production team toured some of these countries to get a first-hand idea of the culture to add to the film.