Four Weddings and a Funeral: Romcom Escapism at Its Finest

If anyone is looking to compile a romantic comedy encyclopedia, you need look no further than the wondrous Four Weddings and Funeral limited series that recently aired ten glorious episodes on Hulu. Created by Mindy Kaling and Matt Warburton, with Tracey Wigfield serving as showrunner, the show is essentially a compendium of the greatest romcoms to grace our screens in the past few decades. As you make your way through the series, you'll discover that each episode feels like its own epic romantic tale, but taken all together, the ten episodes create a sum that exceeds its parts. It's a fizzy escapist joy from start to finish.

The show follows a group of four American friends who studied abroad in the UK and eventually ended up working in London after college. Ainsley (Rebecca Rittenhouse) is an interior designer who lives in a fabulous house and runs her own business, all paid for by her wealthy Texan parents (wait till you see who plays her mother!). Duffy (John Reynolds) is a Latin teacher at a private boys' school. Craig (Brandon Mychal Smith - who I always loved on You're the Worst) is a wealthy investment banker (kudos for casting a black guy in that predominantly white job), and Maya (Nathalie Emmanuel, aka Missandei from Game of Thrones, who is fated for much happier things in this show than a doomed romance with a eunuch) is a political speechwriter who was the only one who originally remained in the United States but then moves over to the UK when things implode rather spectacularly with her job.

I haven't even introduced Kash Khan (played by sure-to-be-the-next-big-thing Nikesh Patel) who is the Hugh Grant figure of this ensemble. He starts out as Ainsley's fiance but then becomes Maya's love interest, in a slow burn romance that takes all of ten episodes to resolve. I shall give away no more spoilers but there are so many twists and turns to this show and so many side romances with supporting characters who suddenly develop into fully fledged people you want to spend more time with. Everyone gets a warm and fuzzy happy ending they deserve, even despite the promised funeral that takes place in Episode 4. In fact, it was only on Episode 10 that I realized we still hadn't had the fourth wedding and that's when I truly appreciated the genius of this show. There were so many side plots and possibilities that there were multiple fakeouts for whose wedding would end up in the finale. It was brilliant.

Why do I love this show? First, I love romcoms. Apart from its namesake, the show also features subtle and not so subtle references to other beloved movies of the genre. There are bits of dialogue from Love Actually, music taken from Notting Hill, a cast member from My Best Friend's Wedding (no spoilers, but whee I was so happy to see this person!). If you love this genre, this series abounds with Easter eggs to keep you delighted. Second, this cast is wonderfully diverse. While the original movie was completely white, this series features a central romance between an African-American woman and a Pakistani-British man. The Pakistani part is particularly wonderful for someone like me who is always desperate to see brown people portrayed in mainstream pop culture. Kash comes from a traditional Muslim family and we see him at the mosque with his dad, chatting with his imam who sets him up on "dates" for an arranged marriage (with Fatima, played by Rakhee Thakrar, who is just the best), and hanging out with his friend Basheer (Guz Khan, who ought to have a spinoff of his own). His father (the lovable Harish Patel) is such a typical brown dad, overbearing and loving, and incapable of keeping his diabetes under control.

Third, this show's aesthetic is stunning. Production designer, Patrick Rolfe, who was the art director of the glorious Paddington 2, was tasked with making London look just as beautiful as he did on that film and he does not disappoint. Honestly, this show stoked my Anglophilia to fever pitch and is convincing me to start booking flights to London. Every set is beautiful, every wardrobe choice is perfect, everything is vibrant and colorful and gleeful. This is a fantasy world you fully want to inhabit. And the soundtrack is a wonderful complement to those visuals, featuring a smattering of new hits and old jams that all keep up with the breezy and playful tone of the series. At one point, an Urdu version of "Aint No Sunshine" plays on the soundtrack, a reference to Notting Hill, but also a reminder of the series' diversity that reflects what London is really like outside of the movies.

Four Weddings and a Funeral is idealistic and liberal and the plot is definitely not grounded in any sense of reality. It seems to have been getting dinged a lot by critics because of this. But who wants reality? I want this show - full of luscious drama but promises of romance and happiness for everyone. This is a show about a group of people who found love, but also made a family of friends, both British and American, who will stick with them for the rest of their lives. It's so naive and optimistic, and I unabashedly loved every second of it.