The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu (2023)
Directed by Anna Chi
Written by Anna Chi, Donald Martin
Starring Lisa Lu, Michelle Krusiec, Adrian Pasdar, Joely Fisher, Archie Kao, Rochelle Ying
Release Date March 21st, 2023
Published April 12th, 2023
On the one hand, seeing a story prominently feature three generations of a Asian American family on the big screen feels fresh and new. On the other hand, a movie this bad doesn't do all that much for representation for anyone. The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu is a painfully stretched sitcom episode premise that has been dragged to feature length for reasons that defy logic and entertainment value. The story of an elderly woman not wanting to spend her final days in a hospital bed isn't a terrible idea but in execution, it's a low rent bore.
The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu centers on dyspeptic senior citizen, Mrs. Wu (Lisa Lu). Mrs. Wu is staying at a high end nursing home and is set to celebrate her 88th birthday but she's far too miserable to enjoy it. Despite what we are told is a high end nursing home experience, Mrs. Wu describes the place as a prison that her daughter, Mary (Michelle Krusiec) and her white husband, Brian (Adrian Pasdar) have sentenced her to. Mrs. Wu wants to spend her last days either in her own home or on the road in Carmel, California, where she lived the biggest moments of her life.
After a disastrous birthday celebration, Mrs. Wu corners her granddaughter, Emma (Rochelle Ying) and Emma's best friend, Karen (Tiffany Wu), and asks them to sneak her out for an impromptu road trip. In exchange, Grandma gives Emma a VHS tape message from her late father, one she wasn't supposed to get for another year or so, on her 18th birthday. Emma and Karen then enlist the help of Mrs. Wu's best friend and caregiver, Charlotte (Joely Fisher) to help them with this scheme, and keep Grandma alive long enough to reach Carmel.
Subplots abound in The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu and each is less interesting or relevant than the last. Karen is coming out as gay. There is nothing wrong with this except that it has no bearing whatsoever on her relationship to her closest friend, Emma, who accepts her friend's revelation with the kind of loving support one would hope to get from their childhood best friend. There seems to be an element of Queer-baiting going on as the film seems to want to create tension between the friends, perhaps with Karen having a crush on Emma, but this is hand-waved away with Karen's subplot about a long time male friend she hopes will go to prom with her. Heterosexuality safely confirmed, the LGBTQ elements are dismissed mostly unaddressed.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media
