The Farewell - Review

Lulu Wang's second feature film draws from her own life experiences as a Chinese-American family decide not to tell their grandmother that she has a terminal illness, and organise an impromptu wedding before she dies.

Billi (Awkwafina) is greeted by Nei Nei (Zhao Shuzhen) | Trailer screenshot

It's an solid premise that allows for some interesting exploration of family dynamics and the East vs West cultural divide. In particular it bases the divide off the idea of individualism in the West vs the idea of collectivism in the East. By not telling Nei Nei about her cancer one side of the family argues that it means they can take the burden of the news for her, but this brings into question the morality of that decision for the other side.

Billi (played by Awkwafina) questions this decision the most, and the narrative mainly focuses on her trying to grapple with this perspective, due to living in the US for most of her life. Awkwafina gives a very assured performance (one which won her a Golden Globe Award) and Zhao Shuzhen is superb as Nei Nei, conveying such warmth and kindness throughout the story.

Wang based this story off her own family keeping this secret from her very own grandmother, and the authenticity the discussions the different family members have is apparent because of it. The bilingual nature of the film also comes from her with the use of English and Mandarin adding another layer to the clash in attitudes.

It could be argued that very little actually occurs in the narrative, and that we don't really learn too much about the characters. However, because of the gentle pace and short runtime it doesn't outstay its welcome which helps alleviate these flaws.

Awkwafina won a Golden Globe Award for her role as Billi | Trailer screenshot

In the end the conclusion isn't quite the tear-jerker you might imagine it to be. It's actually quite a pleasant end to the proceedings, even if it comes a little abruptly.

Final Verdict

I'm happy to give this a positive recommendation. Its aims are relatively modest but it achieves them perfectly, and would be a lovely film to watch with your own family. It's currently streaming on Amazon Prime in the UK if you want to catch it.