A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.... (Full plot summary below)
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A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.
Leave your thoughts about The Farewell.
| SlateInkoo KangThe subject matter is inevitably somber, but the picture is also mischievously funny. Wang pirouettes along some tonal hairpins — in one scene, I guffawed in the midst of wracking sobs. |
| The Associated PressLindsey BahrThe film is a heady, gentle and emotional journey, but Wang also packs the frame with layered conversation and funny background action. She makes the family dynamics feel universally familiar while also presenting an authentic portrait of China and Chinese families. |
| Consequence of SoundClint WorthingtonWang, along with her stellar cast, manages to deftly weave droll, observational family comedy with deeply resonant examinations of the role of family and culture in our lives. It’s naturalistic without feeling downbeat, farcical without being goofy, and treats its cultural signposts with a sensitivity and honesty few filmmakers can achieve. |
| Washington PostAnn HornadayThe Farewell pays delightful, insightful homage to the facades and pretenses nearly everyone adopts in the name of compassion. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperThis is a viewing experience to be treasured. It is one of the very best films of 2019. |
| The Seattle TimesMoira Macdonald"The Farewell" is so unexpectedly and deliciously funny that watching it feels like a tonic — an immersion in love and art. |
| San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThe Farewell has a special feeling about it. It’s full of truth and emotion, and lacking in sentimentality. It has an eye for absurdity and for the telling detail, and it marks Lulu Wang as a director with the rare but essential ability to make you care about what she cares about. It will go down as one of the standout movies of 2019. |
| Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleSometimes, the movie argues, it’s the things we don’t say that prove how much we care. Billi’s path to acceptance of this makes The Farewell one of the most heartfelt homecoming films in years. |
| New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaThe little dramas and themes that emerge during the reunion of the film’s far-flung brood become, like a family, more than the sum of its individual parts, and an incredibly satisfying meal of a film. |
| Chicago TribuneKatie WalshWith impeccable craft, Wang has created a funny, heartfelt and bittersweet film that will ring riotously true for anyone who knows the joys and agonies of a large, complicated family, regardless of culture, ethnicity or nationality. |
