'The Farewell' Review

Synopsis: A Chinese family discovers their grandmother Nai Na has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there's a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother's wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken.

Runtime: 100 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG (for thematic material, brief language, and some smoking)

Who should see it? Those who don't mind reading subtitles since much of the dialogue is spoken in Chinese.

Chinese tradition encourages families to withhold news of terminal illness from the affected person. While Americans pride themselves on individualism, decisions in China are made for the greater good of a collective family. Written and directed by Lulu Wang, The Farewell is influenced by Wang's personal experiences or, as an opening title card would tell you, "based on an actual lie." Lulu Wang first shared her anecdote three years ago on the weekly radio program This American Life, and the subject is understandably ideal as the premise of a feature-length dramady. 

The ethical dilemma and clash of cultural values naturally supply conflict while the audience awaits the seemingly inevitable, an unintentional slip of the tongue. Throughout The Farewell, there's palpable tension whether a family member will mistakenly reveal the truth of Nai Nai's condition to the affected matriarch. I won't spoil whether that occurs, but these instances lead the viewer to question the morality of such a choice. As Billi points out to her family, it'd be illegal to lie about this in America. But does that make it wrong? Within the specific cultural context, Wang pinpoints a universality in the character's emotional responses, so viewers sympathize with Billi's struggle.

However, the proceedings are relatively light in spite of the grim subject matter. Amid pre-emptive mourning, Wang uncovers levity in the family interactions as every facade is transparent to the audience. Therefore, something like Nai Nai's obliviousness concerning her health can be tragic or amusing depending on the context. Lulu Wang incorporates humor in such a way that it feels genuine, never coming across as gratuitous or undercutting the film's poignancy. 

Central to it all is an excellent lead performance from Awkwafina. Awkwafina's recently served as effective comic relief in films like Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean's Eight but proves to have a vast dramatic range here as well. Even at her happiest, the audience can sense Billi's inner turmoil regarding this secret, which is subtly conveyed by Awkwafina. In the role of Nai Nai, Shuzhen lends warmth, kindness, and a no-nonsense attitude to the loving matriarch. The persona of Zhao's affectionate Nai Nai contrasts well with Awkwafina's troubled Billi, and the two share a delightful dynamic. 

Filling out the remainder of the cast, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Aoi Mizuhara, Han Chen, Yongbo Jiang, and Lu Hong each offer wonderfully layered supporting turns as they also deal with this burden of knowledge. Otherwise, I found Alex Weston's score composed mostly of strings and vocals to be quite entrancing. Some scenes seem a bit unnecessary and could have been trimmed down a tad, but the film's runtime is only 100 minutes, so this isn't a significant concern. 

To sum things up, The Farewell is soulful, joyous, and undoubtedly one of my favorite films of the year thus far. I was taken aback when it ended rather abruptly, but I soon realized that it was because I wasn't ready to say goodbye.

Film Assessment: A