The Farewell

— This is a thoughtful, delightful, and lovingly crafted tale of cultures stretched by geography and generations. Billi, a young New York writer whose family moved from China when she was six years old, has maintained a bond with her “Nai Nai” (grandmother). Her parents have learned Nai Nai has stage IV lung cancer but the family, following Chinese tradition, has decided not to let Nai Nai know she’s dying. Instead, they’ve pushed Billi’s cousin to announce his wedding as an excuse for the entire family to get together and see Nai Nai one last time. Billi’s parents don’t think she should join them in China, believing she’s been in the U.S. so long that she can’t mask her emotions and would be unable to keep Nai Nai’s prognosis secret. What follows is a bittersweet tragicomedy with layers in every scene, creating a textured look at culture, family, and our ability to reorient ourselves as we understand the importance of memories, heritage, and affection. Awkwafina is incredible as Billi, played somewhat low key, with just the right amount of introspection and confusion, and proving it may hard to go home again, but it may also add some clarity and substance to your life. This is a very good film. It’s also about the right length, something so many, longer films can’t say these days.

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[2019. 100 min. Written and directed by Lulu Wang. Starring Awkwafina, Tzi is aMa, Diana Lin, Aoi Mizuhara, and Gil Perez-Abraham.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-farewell-2019