Best Movies to Watch That Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month

The month of May is designated as Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month AKA AAPI Heritage Month. This has brought around more awareness and celebration surrounding AAPI heritage, and the contributions of individuals and communities throughout history. It’s important for us as a society to celebrate each individual culture for its richness and all that it has brought to the world as a whole.

One of the best ways to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month and all the accomplishments of the community is to consume media that tells AAPI stories from their culturally specific perspectives. While AAPI Heritage Month has only existed since 1990, there is plenty of content that brings Asian-American and Pacific Islander perspectives into mainstream viewing. Here are the best movies to watch to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month.

10 Rush Hour

This may seem like an odd choice for AAPI heritage month, but for Chinese Americans, Rush Hour brought a new level of representation to the buddy cop genre when it came out in 1998. Starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, Rush Hour revolves around Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee (Chan), who teams up with LAPD’s Detective Carter (Tucker) to rescue a Chinese diplomat’s daughter. Rush Hour was wildly popular at the time of its release, and spawned the creation of two sequels. What’s more, a Rush Hour 4 is confirmed as being in the works.

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9 Moana

Moana broke new ground for stories about Pacific Islanders at Disney, bringing a brand new tale to younger audiences from a Pacific Islander point of view. Moana’s family is content where they are, but when fishing runs bare around their island, Moana must set sail for the sea to find Maui, a demi-god, and restore the heart of Tefiti to save her tribe from starvation. Starring Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, and Temuera Morrison, the cast is full of Pacific Islander representation, making it the perfect family watch for AAPI Heritage month.

8 Everything Everywhere All At Once

There’s a reason that Everything Everywhere All At Once took the world by storm last year. With countless accolades under its belt, this trippy sci-fi comedy revolves around Chinese immigrant Evelyn Wang, who must channel her newfound powers to prevent the multiverse from collapsing after an interdimensional rupture threatens to tear it apart. Winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, Everything Everywhere All At Once tells a uniquely Asian story. Starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu, if you haven’t seen this gem yet, now is definitely the time.

7 Tigertail

Tigertail is a unique film set across four different time periods in both Taiwan and New York. Taiwanese factory worker Pin-Jui leaves home and the love of his life to seek new opportunities in America. As time passes, he loses his lust for life and must reconnect with his past in order to see what could have been had he fulfilled all his dreams. This immigrant story shows true representation for the AAPI community and giving it a watch will help explore the rich heritage of the Taiwanese community.

6 Slumdog Millionaire

Considered one of the best films ever made, Slumdog Millionaire tells a unique story of 18-year-old Jamal (Dev Patel), who participates in the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. As he manages to answer all the questions right, the film shows flashbacks of how he knows the answers as he survived the streets of Mumbai alongside his brother Salim. Winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire is a true to life story that is a cornerstone of AAPI representation.

5 Turning Red

One of the most unique items on this list is Turning Red. Turning Red tells the story of 13-year-old Meilin Lee who transforms into a giant red panda whenever she gets excited. The film is set in Toronto, Ontario, but the main character is Chinese-Canadian. This story revolves around a hereditary curse while also diving into the realities of puberty and how experiences differ from culture to culture. Turning Red received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, earning it a spot on this list.

Related: A Brief History of AAPI Representation in Hollywood, Explained

4 Bend It Like Beckham

Bend It Like Beckham revolves around Jess (Parminder Nagra), the daughter of a traditionally Indian couple living in London. All Jess wants to do is play organized soccer, but her parents won’t allow her. That won’t stop Jess when she is discovered and is invited to play for a semi-pro team. She must hide her soccer life from her family in order to live out her dream in secret. The film was subject to universal praise for its commentary of South Asian social norms and culture, making this film a staple in AAPI cinema.

3 The Joy Luck Club

Based on the novel of the same name, The Joy Luck Club follows a group of mature Chinese women who meet regularly to play Mahjong, all while telling family stories. The film follows the women, and eventually their daughters, over many years. It explores cultural conflict as well as the relationships between Chinese-American women and their mothers. The Joy Luck Club was selected for preservation at the United States National Film Registry as it has proven itself culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.

2 Boy

Starring and directed by Taika Waititi, Boy tells the story of a 11-year-old New Zealander named Boy, who welcomes home his father Alamein. While Boy is ecstatic to finally spend time with his absentee father, he soon learns that Alamein is not what he imagined as Alamein has only returned to uncover a bag of money he buried on the farm years prior. Boy had an outstanding performance at the New Zealand box office, and is deserving of more North American attention for the exposure of relationships from a Pacific Islander perspective.

1 Minari

Revolving around a South Korean immigrant family who moves to a farm in Arkansas, USA, Minari is arguably one of the best immigrant stories ever told. While the family aims to live out the American dream, they struggle to adjust to their new way of life. They soon discover the power of a family unit, bringing a whole new definition to the meaning of the word “home.”

The film was nominated for six awards at the Academy Awards and earned Youn Yuh-jung the award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first Korean actor to win an Oscar for Acting. Minari also earned the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Needless to say, Minari is a must-watch this AAPI Heritage month.