Four Weddings and a Funeral is a romantic comedy that loves romantic comedies.
The Hulu series, which was co-created by Mindy Kaling and Matt Warburton, takes the events of the 1994 movie directed by Mike Newell and scripted by Richard Curtis and puts a new cast of characters into the mix. At the middle of it is Kash (Nikesh Patel) and Maya (Nathalie Emmanuel), who meet at Heathrow before realizing that Kash is dating Maya’s best friend Ainsley (Rebecca Rittenhouse). And yet, in the midst of telling its own love story, the show also incorporates nods to a number of films.
Here are the romantic comedies referenced in the pilot alone:
Mamma Mia
Love and Basketball, Say Anything…, and more
It’s easy to reference a rom-com when the pilot features Ainsley’s birthday party, which just so happens to have a rom-com theme. The result is plethora of recognizable costumes, including characters from Love and Basketball, Say Anything…, Legally Blonde, The Princess Bride, Crazy Rich Asians, Clueless, and Coming to America.
Love Actually
After Maya finds out that her married boyfriend was cheating on her — it’s complicated — she flies back to London, where Ainsley is waiting to greet her with cue cards in hand, a la Love Actually.
Love Actually … again
During Ainsley and Kash’s wedding ceremony, Gemma steals the show by grabbing a mic and performing “For Once In My Life,” which can be considered another Love Actually nod seeing as how Love Actually included its own wedding ceremony musical number with “All You Need Is Love.”
