Asian Persuasion (2025)
A lost boy and a prince charming are now grown up. They will now band together on a haphazard matchmaking journey all to avoid alimony payments. Asian Persuasion may not be a movie that will win critical acclaim but it does deliver the wishes of millennials of robust Y2K hearts. It is a rom-com that brings Dante Basco (known for playing Rufio on Hook) and Paolo Montalban [known for playing Brandy’s Prince Charming in Cinderella (1997) ] together on the same screen.
The story begins with the final signatures on divorce paperwork between Avery Chua (played by KC Concepcion) and Mickey de Los Santos (played by Dante Basco). Not much is provided on what derailed their marriage but it appears to be the from the fallout of diverging life paths. Avery has achieved her dream of running a fashion business while Mickey struggles to lift his coffee shop above the bad reviews on Yelp. Their different approaches to handling life is drastically displayed with how Mickey precarious problem-solving skills. He decides to solve his burden of rising debt, failing business, and looming alimony payments with Tinder.
.Hyped by his questionable best friend Caspian (played by Kevin Kreider), the two friends hatch up a plan during a night of booze and weed. They decide to create a fake Tinder profile for Avery and hook her up with a man to eliminate the alimony payments! After several swipes, they find a perfect match for Avery: Lee (played by Paolo Montalban).
Mickey and Caspian takes the plan even further by working with Lee. See, poor Lee, is painfully socially awkward. In order to boost Lee’s chances with Avery, Mickey coaches him on how to be Avery’s perfect match. The obvious problem is, all of this coaching has triggered the reasons why Mickey fell in love with Avery in the first place.
An idea based off of a night of depression- induced drinking and weed cannot be good. Audiences can already see the looming fireball of the oncoming wreck miles ahead. Initially, this cartoonish plan of having Avery re-marry in order to reduce child alimony payments seemed completely bogus. Until a quick internet search for New York’s (where the movie takes place) alimony laws and apparently it is a legit process. If a recipient spouse remarries, alimony payments are terminated. That just seems to create a ridiculous loophole-er…ah. That is how this rom-com came to be. Carry on with the farce.
Asian Persuasion’s core dynamic is light. It’s light on dialogue, light on pacing, light on plot, and light on heavy subjects. It’s main goal is just to feature an all Asian cast occupying more space in the rom-com sphere and this should be heavily and continually encouraged. It’s not a film about cultural struggles or generational trauma. It’s a story of people doing dumb stuff for love. The kind of movie to just sit back and release the mental stress anchors.
When the sugar levels do die down from the viewing of the saccharine saturated film, prepare for the barrage of questions. Mainly because the initial problem of Mickey’s cash flow was never solved. The issue was displaced into a completely different and possibly more expensive business model. There is no way loans were not involved. Did Mickey harbor some astronomical asset for the banks to agree to issue a loan? Without giving spoilers, the alimony payments are still on the table! There was also no follow up to the marketing efforts by the teen loitering in front of the shop.
The other obvious question is why would anyone take relationship advice from their love interest’s ex? If Mickey knew Avery so well, why are they divorced? The little montage flashes doesn’t answer the question but Avery’s emotional levels at the end of the movie provides clue. It indicates that something much deeper was wrong with her relationship with Mickey. Her viscerally painful reaction shows a glimpse of deeply rooted pain and struggles. Even if it’s Paolo Montalban, a perfect man is not going to place in her state of love ever after. ..
Mickey may have known about Avery’s preference but did he actually care for her? He placed her and their child’s life in danger by introducing a stranger from the internet to their family unit. Framed that way, it doesn’t seem so peachy does it? Funny enough, there were a couple of scenes with Lee that could have easily been interpreted as possible danger vibes. If he was so shy, how did he have the courage to create a Tinder profile? This could be from reading too many romantasy novels but there is a sudden need for Montalban to play a morally grey romantasy character. May the cinematic deities manifest this so.
Dark musings pushed firmly aside and rosy lens placed back on, Asian Persuasion is just pure sweetness and charm. The chemistry between Basco, Montalban, and Kreider made for a delightful comedic trio. It was definitely not hard to imagine these three getting into trouble. They were unrealistic scenarios but still silly and fun. It was also sweet to see Concepcion descend into adorable giggles and smiles with each onscreen romantic scene with Montalban. Girl, same. I would wholeheartedly do the same. Montalban playing socially awkward does not diminish his charm. Not one bit.
An extra thing to note is that this is another recent movie that Kevin Kreider has been casted in. As a fan of Bling Empire (S1 and S2), I cannot help but root for his steady progress on being shown onscreen more. It was also surprising to see Kreider’s character as a bartender. Kreider has been public about his sobriety and even launched an Asian flavored non-alcoholic drinks, Sans. The Sans drink is also displayed prominently across multiple scenes so kudos for the film supporting his product.
Asian Persuasion encourages the confidence to make mistakes. It’s not about being the absolutely perfect prince charming. Long lasting relationships can begin from the seed of bumbled beginnings. For some women, that earnestness to please can be endearing, for some, it can be a turn off. it’s a risk that everyone must experience for themselves, Minus the the microphoned guidance from their exes.
This is not a movie about in depth analysis of love and relationships. It’s just a way move to enjoy with a very light and some popcorn and to be amused that Asian romances also occupy the diverse romance sphere of contrived happily ever windows.It shares the same space as the light screwball comedies from 1920-1930’s era. Movie such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers or even the Thin Man that fabricated light fluffy plots to deflect from the times of immense depression. Yet there is still a happy ever ending of sorts. Love and relationships can be a rocky road of mistakes and tribulations and sometimes you have to take a chance.
