REVIEW: "The Farewell" (Despite Much Fibbing) Makes A Genuine Cultural and Generational Connection

The impending death of a family member is a sad and melancholy subject. It can also be a tiring and cliched plotline for a film, as we've learned from countless films before. What's unique about writer-director Lulu Wang's Sundance-favorite feature, The Farewell, is that it's "based on an actual lie."

The story follows a Chinese family who hides the truth from the matriarch that she has terminal cancer. "It's not the cancer that kills them," claims one family member, "It's the fear." As an excuse, they arrange a wedding to gather extended family and friends to see her one last time. One family member, struggling artist Billi, has a special relationship with her "nai nai" (Chinese for "grandmother"), even as she struggles to hide her real emotions and wrestles with Eastern family complexities and dramas (i.e., a sense of pride and honor, dependence vs. independence) very different from the Western world she grew up in. 

Despite all the fibbing involved, Wang nevertheless paints a portrait of cultural relevance and reverence rarely seen on screen. One could argue that this film even exists as a bridge between said cultures and generations, including a past that has long gone by and a contemplative present and future. It speaks to the universal theme of remembering who we are, where we came from, what we stand for, and what lies ahead.

Yes, the film is melancholy at times, but it's never sappy or mediocre. One scene in a hospital, for instance, remarkably goes from serious to subtly humorous. And that subtle shift from melancholy to comedic is peppered throughout the film as well.

Speaking of humor, comedian-rapper-actress Awkwafina (who broke out last year in Oceans 8 and Crazy Rich Asians) gives an incredible dramatic turn as Billi, whose relationship with her grandmother is loving and genuine, sincere and humorous, even as Billi struggles with her own feelings of rejection, loneliness, and an uncertain future. Meanwhile, Nai Nai (played by Shuzhen Zhao, in one of the year's best performances), despite not knowing what's really going on, is clearly a very spirited woman, exemplifying familial love that endures. Like Nai Nai, The Farewell is an incredible, beautiful film. One of the year's best. 

(Left to right) Awkwafina and Shuzhen Zhao in The Farewell