Set in contemporary Seattle and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, “Worth the Wait” (2025) is about how a group of strangers become connected and an essential part of each other’s lives. Apparently, the draw is reuniting actors Lana Condor and Ross Butler who were in “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” (2020) and “To All the Boys: Always and Forever” (2021), which are the latter two films in a Netflix film franchise that currently consists of three movies based on Jenny Han’s novel trilogy and later spawned a Netflix television series. It starts with the day that their connection began then resumes five months later. Will the pretty people have a happy ending?
Sometimes when I watch a movie, it seems like it should be a television series because the world building is so detailed, and the story leaves you wanting more. “Worth the Wait” should be a television series because the characters are archetypical, and it tries to cram in too much in too little time. “A Nice Indian Boy” (2024) gave a lot of Indian American characters an opportunity to take center stage in roughly the same amount of runtime and use the time to create memorable, unique, three-dimensional characters. Writers Maggie Hartmans, Dan Mark and Rachel Tan under develop the characters, and the viewers do not get a chance to settle in and savor the pleasure of having a predominantly Asian American cast.
Leah (Condor) is a hospital doctor, and Kai (Butler) is a lawyer who works in Kuala Lumpur. They are attracted to each other, but ocean separates them, which makes it impossible to build a life together. Kai des not even like his job, but feels obligated to stay for his dad, Yun-Han (Yu-Beng Lim), who is the hard ass firm founder. Where is his mom? Who knows. The cutest moment between the two is when they compare their literature tastes, which is a nice way to encourage viewers to read more—maybe you will impress a hot date! Being attractive and laughing over food portion disparity appears to be the foundation of their relationship.
Actor Amanda Yan (Elodie Yung) is outraged to discover that the director of her next movie is her ex, Scott (Andrew Koji). I thought that it would be nice to see Yung and Koji outside of the action dramas that they are best known for. Yung played Elektra Natchios in the Netflix Marvel television series “Daredevil” and “The Defenders.” I want to see Koji in “Warrior,” and he was strong in his supporting role in “Boy Kills World” (2023). The characters are wondering if they can make it work this time around, and Koji definitely nails the emotion behind why he would prioritize work over the love of his life. Scott explains, “It wasn’t about proving everyone wrong. It was about proving I was wrong to believe them.” It would be nice to see what they could do if they were not working with thin material. Their dynamic is trying to break free of the cycles that they are in. She keeps having failed tabloid relationships with her directors, and he keeps fumbling the bag.
Married couple Teresa (Karena Ka-Yan Lam) and Nathan (Osric Chau) go through the ups and downs of becoming parents with Teresa’s mother, Mary (Kheng Hua Tan), helping and hurting in equal measure. When other characters enter their storyline, it slightly elevates the situation. It should be the most textured story because it goes through a range of emotions, but again it is too superficial to really plumb the depths of their characters. Lam comes to life with everyone outside of her character’s immediate circle, but they are ultimately not given enough to do. They don’t have jobs or a life outside their storyline other than jogging. When Teresa finally gets a friend, her story gets interesting, especially when Teresa starts giving advice. Seeing Teresa as an expert and not just an eternally suffering person provided much needed variety to the character. What does Nathan do for a living to afford such a nice expansive home? No idea. Sure, it does not matter, but lives consist of lots of ingredients. People do not have the luxury to only handle family drama and nothing else.
High school sweethearts, Blake (Ricky He) and Riley (Ali Fumiko Whitney), are playing love pranks so Riley’s uncle, Curtis (Sung Kang), a grumpy rideshare driver with failed Olympic ambitions, will let them date openly. Their section starts as the most lighthearted but then suddenly becomes the most emotionally authentic section in “Worth the Wait.” The trio end up being the beating heart of the story. The other characters are depicted similarly: get the ideal image of their life, fall into sniping and disagreement, rinse and repeat until the end of the movie. With so many disagreements, why would they want to be together? Blake and Riley do not fit that pattern and transform onscreen from an immature to a deeper relationship that helps them to grow as people in other parts of their lives and help each other unpack their past experiences. If the writers did not constantly veer into sitcom antics, those three could cook. Blake is an unexpected sweetie.
Director Tom Lin makes a glossy, colorful, high-definition digital movie. His most inventive moment is when he visually depicts the emotional reality of the long-distance lovebirds. When they are psychologically together, they are suddenly in the room together. Lin’s advantage over other people: most filmmakers who film nighttime scenes make them impossible to see, but streaming must have more resources because they are always impeccably clear, and Lin did not screw up, which is better than “Game of Thrones” did. The Malaysia sequences and Seattle skyline scenes could be tourism promotional videos because everyone is going to think that they are the best places to visit in the world. Unfortunately he mostly failed the “anti-film” test when screencasting social media posts. It is so disruptive to go from a horizontal to a vertical frame, but “An Unfinished Film” (2024) solved that problem.
“Worth the Wait” is a streaming movie that should be a family-friendly, safe network evening drama, but it needs to slow down and take its time to develop the characters. It is not enough to have a wealth of talent. If the writers are going to use simplistic scenarios so the material can reach a broader audience, then they need to take a page from Blake and Riley’s playbook regarding how to evolve the other characters. The writers did a great job of providing countercultural images as an antidote to negative norms. Women are not shown eternally sacrificing and leaving everything to be with a man. The movie offers a true Biblical image of men leaving their birth families for their chosen family and prioritizing love over accomplishments. There is potential here to create images of positive masculinity, have Asian men be sexy romantic leads and show women who can have fulfilling, successful careers or be stay at home wives without becoming giving trees. We can have it all but take your time.
