"Quiz Lady" Movie Review

No one has range the same way that Sandra Oh and Awkwafina do. These two icons star in the new movie “Quiz Lady” on Hulu.

The film is about two estranged sisters who embark on a journey to be on a TV quiz show to pay the ransom being held for their dog.

What happened to their dog? Linguini, the dog, was kidnapped by an Asian mobster who is waiting to be repaid 80 thousand dollars from their mother who is a gambling fiend.

Remarkably, the plot is pushed on by their mother who is never actually in the movie.

Awkwafina plays Annie, and Oh plays her sister Jenny. They are an opposite pair, for sure.

Annie is a type A, responsible adult while Jenny is a free spirit. Oh’s portrayal of this character really shows her insane range. She is spunky and wears colored clip-in hair extensions which is so different from her most well-known role of Cristina Yang on “Grey’s Anatomy."

Awkwafina usually portrays more comedic relief characters. Annie still provides laughs throughout the story, but she is definitely the more serious of the two. Like come on, she only wears beige.

The reason the two came up with the plan to be on a quiz show is that Annie has watched the same quiz show since she was a child. She answers all the questions with such speed and confidence. Jenny records her and then posts it online.

Annie goes viral, and becomes the “Quiz Lady."

The film is a quirky comedy but has some strangely emotional moments. The climax is where the sisters start to fight and come to an emotional meeting they argue about a very weird moment from their pasts that involves the topics of digging a hole and pooping.

One of the most creative scenes in the film is when Annie is auditioning for the show and is really nervous so Jenny gives her some drugs. The drugs lead Annie to sort of hallucinate and not answer the questions at all.

To show that she is high, they play Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” and animate the scenes she is in. It was a very aesthetic scene and portrayed drug use in an amusing light.

Later, Jenny tries to combat the first drugs by giving her more drugs which makes her very paranoid and afraid to get the questions wrong so she starts slaying the answers and ends up making it on the show.

Presumably, the film ends on a happy note. It’s a wacky storyline, with some serious quirks and surprisingly heartfelt moments.

Once they are on the show more silly characters pop up. The other contestant on the quiz is kind of the worst character. Not a terrible guy, but just super cocky and unlikable.

Will Ferrell plays the host of the show, Terry McTer, and is a very mellow and kind guy, but is not comedic in the film at all. He is silly, but not hilarious which is usually anticipated by Ferrell’s roles.

All in all, a good movie. Worth a first watch but not necessary to watch again.

Rating: 2/5

Savannah Swartz is a third-year communications major. To contact her, email sms9072@psu.edu.