‘Fire Island’ Review: Joel Kim Booster centers the gay Asian experience
From left: Margaret Cho (Erin), Tomás Matos (Keegan), Bowen Yang (Howie), Joel Kim Booster (Noah), and Matt Rogers (Luke). Photo by Jeong Park. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
Very Asian Rating: 4.5 / 5
When I first heard about Fire Island, the new queer rom-com written by Joel Kim Booster and directed by Andrew Ahn, I had mixed feelings. As a gay Asian man, my relationship with Fire Island, the place, is a little complicated, so I was already approaching the film with a heavy dose of trepidation. In my own experience, Fire Island is overrun with guys who are most likely to say “no Asians” on dating apps. But when I saw the film counted four Asian leads, Joel Kim Booster (Noah), Bowen Yang (Howie), Conrad Ricamora (Will), and Margaret Cho (Erin), I wondered to what territory Booster would take the film. Would he have the courage to center authentic Asian experiences in what’s considered gay paradise? Would he have the audacity to tell the story of a gay Asian man falling in love with (gasp) another Asian man?
Bowen Yang and Joel Kim Booster play best friends, Howie and Noah. Photo by Jeong Park. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
Fire Island focuses on the friendship of Noah and Howie, their chosen family, and their annual vacation to Fire Island. Noah is an athletic and attractive always-horny-sex-positive gay Asian man from Bushwick who doesn’t believe in romance. He feels strongly that you come to Fire Island for one thing: fucking. His best friend, Howie, is the complete opposite; he’s a graphic designer from San Francisco and he wants the happy-ever-after love story. Unhappy with Howie’s body count, Noah makes Howie promise to have sex on the island before their vacation week is over.
Elements of Noah and Howie’s friendship are based on the real-life friendship of Booster and Yang. “Bowen was the first close gay friend that I had who was also Asian,” Booster says. “There's so much that we have both experienced that is similar. Finding that person finally and feeling seen for the first time by someone like that is so powerful and important. There's so much that we can talk about and relate over and so much that goes unsaid that can be shared. We look at each other and it's like, Oh, I know what you're feeling right now. This movie was really born out of that experience and that relationship.”
From left: Bowen Yang, Tomás Matos, Joel Kim Booster, Matt Rogers, Margaret Cho and Torian Miller. Photo by Jeong Park. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
Margaret Cho, plays Erin, the decades-older lesbian friend who owns the Fire Island house they vacation to. Erin bought the house with money she acquired through a settlement after eating a piece of glass at a major chain restaurant but reveals she lost it all through a bad investment with Quibi, the real-life short-form video streaming platform that failed. Now, she has to sell the house which is devastating news for everyone because without free lodging, none of them can afford to vacation to what’s become an exclusive destination beyond reach for most people. As one friend in the house puts it, you have to be “successful, white, rich, with 7% body fat to vacation on Fire Island.”
At low tea, the housemates meet Charlie (James Scully) and Will (Conrad Ricamora). Charlie is a doctor who immediately locks eyes with Howie, and attempts to befriend him. Will is an uptight and broody lawyer who wants nothing to do with Charlie’s new friends. As Noah attempts to strike up a conversation with Will at the bar, he’s interrupted by a random white man who asks, “Are you Korean? You look Korean. I have a sense.” No one answers before he can turn to Will and ask, “Are you Filipino? You look Filipino.”
After a sunset countdown, Charlie invites Howie and Noah over for a casual gathering at their house. What ensues is the constant reminder that even in queer spaces, there is a hierarchy and there are gatekeepers. Who are the gatekeepers at the top? Wealthy, white men. These gatekeepers decide who’s in, who’s out, what’s hot, and what’s not. Throughout the house party scene, Noah, Howie, and their friends are constantly reminded that they, a group of mostly POC queers, don’t belong there.
“There is this other side of the island that is scary and alienating in a way—it is oppressively white and inherently classist,” says Booster, who is of Korean descent. “Once you’re here, it can feel very alienating if you’re a person of color or you’re of a different body type. It’s funny to see how when gay men are together and we are the majority, how we discriminate and divide ourselves even further. I was like, I want to write a story about this.”
Yes, Fire Island has all the components you’d expect from a traditional rom-com: lovable leads, eccentric best friends, troublesome situations, a grand gesture, etc. But Fire Island is actually a narrative of what it’s like for gay Asian men to navigate queer spaces. Further, the film doesn’t shy away from the unspoken body shaming, classism, self-esteem, and racism issues that so often plague the queer community. Booster has proven his ability to deliver complex and reflective topics in the guise of a funny and oftentimes heartfelt rom-com. Fire Island is instinctively timely and necessary for queer Asian audiences whose stories have mostly been ignored by both mainstream and queer media. But make no mistake, this is a film everyone with an open mind can love. After all, everyone can relate to romance and comedy, both of which Fire Island has plenty of.
It’s rare, but every character in this film is perfectly placed and cast. The friends in Noah, Howie, and Erin’s house, played by Matt Rogers, Tomás Matos, and Torian Miller, all offer comedic layers from various queer perspectives. Just like the Asian community, the queer community is not a monolith. And even though you want to hate them, the characters played by Zane Phillips and Nick Adams are both believable characters, especially on Fire Island. Booster and Yang give solid performances, while Ricamora is the standout; all three help give insight into the nuanced and complex life of a gay Asian man.
For anyone who watches the film and isn’t queer or Asian, you’ll definitely have questions. From PrEP, to party drugs, the meat rack, non-monogamous relationships, and the subtle-to-obvious range of anti-Asian racism, treat this as an educational experience and keep Google handy. But as with all things in life, be careful what you search for.
Fire Island has the makings of a cult classic that will be watched by many for years to come. It’s clear the film was made by and for queer Asians. With Fire Island, Booster has shown there’s more depth to what he can do and the stories he hopes to tell. I’m thrilled to see what both he and Andrew Ahn do next, together or separately. “There aren’t a lot of gay Asian people in this industry,” Booster says. “It was really important to me to work with someone who understood the core of this movie and the experience of Howie and Noah, and Andrew was that. He had such a beautiful vision for the movie—he knew the story, loved the story and wanted to tell it in a way that complimented my skill set. I don’t know if I’ve ever worked with someone that I’ve trusted more creatively.”
After watching this movie, I hope people feel happier to be gay and happier to be Asian.
Fire Island is now available for streaming on Hulu (Distributed by Searchlight Pictures).
Rating: R (Strong Sexual Content | Drug Use | Nudity | Language Throughout)
Running time: 105 minutes
Andrew Ahn and Joel Kim Booster on the set of the film Fire Island. Photo by Jeong Park. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
Directed by: Andrew Ahn
Written by: Joel Kim Booster
Produced by: John Hodges, Tony Hernandez, Brooke Posch
Executive Producer: Joel Kim Booster
Director of Photography: Felipe Vara de Rey, AEC
Production Designer: Katie Hickman
Film Editor: Brian A. Kates, ACE
Co-Producer: Johnny Holland
Music by: Jay Wadley
Costume Designer: David Tabbert
Casting by: Jessica Munks, CSA
