There’s something about friendships that makes a gal’s heart sing. No one understands you quite like your closest girlfriends, and no one is there to pick up the pieces when everything goes sideways like they are. And things do go sideways in Adele Lim’s laugh-out-loud hilarious directorial debut “Joy Ride,” a sweet mix of a buddy comedy and a girl’s trip film that will have you laughing so much you’ll cry — and then crying for real, and laughing some more. This is such a bold and genuine movie, one that highlights the concepts of found family, maternal connections and doing what makes you happy alongside all of its unrestrained and risque fun.

The boisterous comedy follows Ashley Park’s Audrey, a Chinese girl adopted by white parents in a mostly-white suburban town. As a child, she meets and becomes BFFs with Sherry Cola’s Lolo,...