Double Happiness

The premise from the title, "Double Happiness" (2026) sounds promising of a lot of laughs and they do deliver a few.  Tim, the groom has parents who divorced when he was young and they detest one another.  He wanted them both to be at his wedding and because of a variety of circumstances decided to get married twice at the same hotel (where he was the head chef) on the same day so they wouldn't have to meet.  

What could go wrong?  Trying to please two different people has a lot of possibilities for screwups.  One has to do with food.  One parent taught their child to love squid noodles which leave the teeth and mouth blackened.  The other parent pays particular attention to getting the child's teeth whitened.

BUT I cannot describe this film as a comedy.  The divorce left scars.  To make the point, the story includes another young boy torn between two parents separated who tries to meet his mother at the same hotel.  Tim's mother left his father as she felt restricted and went onto to become a successful writer.  The little boy's mother appears to be a successful business woman who left a restrictive husband.

Adults given time to reflect and see how their actions have had a negative effect on their child can sometimes make adjustments.  You have to wait to find out if Tim's parents make any kind of adjustment.

The divorce issue, especially regarding the children spooked me as it is more prevalent than in my youth and is now closer to my family and social circle.  There is no easy solution to its negative impact on children and society.  If we made divorce illegal we would increase the number of unhappy people with negative consequences.  Some ideas are postponing marriage age, perhaps offering domestic living courses in school (or integrated into other subjects) might help.  Maybe requiring therapy before getting married and/or finalizing a divorce.  Some think arranged marriages work better, but parents' motivations do not always reflect the best interests of their children.  There are too many unhappy people as it is.  Our future depends on future generations.

It would be easy to mess up this film, but the cast and crew have done a masterful job of making us laugh and also making us feel pain.  Here are a few of them.

Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu provided the original story, helped with the script and directed.  He has 5 directing credits, 4 for writing and 5 for producing, including "Little Big Women" (2021).

Pei-ju Hsiah was another writer.  Pei-ju has 8 credits for writing, 9 for directing and 4 for assistant directing including "More Than Blue:  The Series" (2022).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2026/03/more-than-blue-series.html

Clifford Miu was a producer.  He graduated from NYU Tisch School of Arts.  He has 19 credits for producing, 4 for directing and 4 for assistant directing including "American Girl" (2021).   See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/08/taiwan.html with bits about "A Sun", "The Falls","Light the Night","Eat Drink Man Woman" and "American Girl".

Ko-Chin Chen was the cinematographer.  He has 22 cinematography credits, 20 for acting and 1 for directing including "Left-handed Girl" (2025).  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/12/two-unrelated-films-that-deserve-more.html and check the first of two reviewed films.

Chun-Hung Chen was an editor.  Chun-Hung has 26 editor credits and 50 for the editorial department including ""A Sun" (2019) and "Little Big Women" (2020).  

Kuan-Ting Liu played Tim Kao, the groom.  He has 60 acting credits including"A Sun" (2019), "The Falls" (2021) and "A Foggy Tale" (2025).  see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2026/05/a-foggy-tale.html

Jennifer Yu played Daisy Wu.  She has 28 acting credits and 3 for soundtrack.

9m88 played Regina the wedding planner.  9m88 is the stage name for Joanne Tang.  She is better known as a singer and song writer with several albums to her name.  She had a fashion design major at college, but at age 25 studied at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.  She has 8 acting credits and 1 for the music department including "Light the Night" (2021) and "A Foggy Tale" (2025). 

"Kuei-Mei Yang played Carina Bai, the groom's mother.  She has 76 acting credits and 1 for the music department including "Eat Drink Man Woman" (1994) under director Ang Lee. 

Chen Yiwen played Chairman Hsieh.  He has 50 acting credits, 5 for directing and 3 for writing including "A Sun" (2019), "The Falls" (2021), "A Foggy Tale" (2025) and one of my top series for 2025, "Forget You Not" (2025).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/06/forget-you-not-something-from-taiwan.html 

"Double Happiness" is available on Netflix subtitled or dubbed.  You will find it engaging.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily recommended, but generally found to be worth my time.  If you follow the links you would better be able to decide which films to pursue.