The Farewell
The Farewell is a 2019 American comedy-drama film, written and directed by Lulu Wang. It stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, and Zhao Shuzhen. The film follows a Chinese American woman named Billi, who learns her grandmother (referred to as Nai Nai) has only a short while left to live. Wishing to see Nai Nai before she dies but also not wanting to reveal her fatal illness to her, Billi's family uses an impromptu wedding as a pretense to gather in their hometown. Throughout the preparation for the wedding, Billi struggles with conflicted feelings about her family's deception and whether she should reveal the truth to Nai Nai.
Plot
Aspiring Chinese-American writer Billi maintains a close relationship with her Nai Nai (paternal grandmother) who lives in Changchun, China. After receiving a rejection letter for a Guggenheim Fellowship, she discovers from her parents, Haiyan and Jian, that Nai Nai has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and is predicted to have only a few months left to live.
More details
| author | Lulu Wang |
|---|---|
| director | Lulu Wang |
| editor | Matthew Friedman Michael Taylor |
| genre | comedy-drama |
| keywords | benign findings benign tumor changchun collectivism collectivism and individualism guggenheim fellowship help hongbao lung cancer medical test new york city red envelope terminal terminal illness wed |
| musicBy | Alex Weston |
| producer | Andrew Miano Anita Gou Chris Weitz Daniele Melia Jane Zheng Lulu Wang Marc Turtletaub Peter Saraf |
| publisher | A24 |
| theme | biographical death independent |