Andrew C Presents ‘Millions,’ an Asian Canadian Drama

Looking for a new show to watch this summer? Eric Nguyen recommends Millions, the critically acclaimed web series by Andrew C.

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While having a conversation about Heath Ledger, four high school friends make a pact: by the time they turn thirty, they will become millionaires. So starts Andrew C’s new web series Millions. Flash forward eight years and the friends are now grown up, all in different stages of their careers. There’s Brandon (Hubert Tran), a customer service representative for a bank; Deron (Andrew “Pyro” Chung) a marijuana enthusiast and DJ who is fired from a job at his brother’s night club; Mary (Jasmine Chen), a struggling dancer; and Charlie (Stephan Kim), a writer who works as a janitor. There’s also Jay (Ben Brillante), Brandon’s womanizing coworker, his girlfriend Lia (Tanya Mok), and the group’s high achieving friend, Eddie (Lee “Lethal” Pham). Whether struggling with making a living as artists or trying to deal with the monotony and tyranny of the corporate world, clearly, life has not turned out the way it was supposed to be.

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Hubert Tran as Brandon

Millions ask the question that echoes the plight of many millenials: what happens when you dream big but then life gets in the way? It’s classic existential question, but what sets this web series apart is that director Andrew C. gives viewers something Hollywood productions do not: a pan-Asian cast that resists stereotypes of Asians. Indeed, the characters here are complicated even when they try not to be. Jay, for instance, is at once suave and obnoxious, yet there are moments of vulnerability informed, perhaps, by a history of disappointment:  “I think relationships are stupid,” he says in one scene. “Nothing lasts in this life. We make ourselves think that things will be permanent, but they’re not.”

 

Ben Brillante as Jay

All of this, of course, does not mean a show that is focused solely on its characters and their internal turmoil. There’s a drug subplot and episode one ends with a car crash—suggesting there’s much more to come from this show made of both new, young talents including Stephan Kim, Ben Brillantes, and Tanya Mok, as well as acting veterans such as Ins Choi.

The show made its debut April 28th and will continue for eight consecutive weeks with episodes available online at: youtube.com/MillionsTheSeries.

Watch the first episode in two parts here.

 

 

Eric Nguyen has a degree in sociology from the University of Maryland along with a certificate in LGBT Studies. He is currently an MFA candidate at McNeese State University and lives in Louisiana.

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