“The Farewell follows Chinese-American twentysomething Billi (Awkwafina) who travels back to China with her parents when her beloved Nai Nai is diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Rather than inform her of her fate and mournfully make arrangements, the far-flung family keep the devastating prognosis a secret from her—as is often the custom in China. Instead, they hastily throw together a big wedding for Billi’s cousin, so that everyone has an excuse to come home and “say goodbye” to their matriarch. It’s a defense of ignorance—as the title of the 2016 This American Life episode in which Wang first told this story put it—as well as an exploration of the very un-Western idea that one’s life is not merely one’s own. And while The Farewell isn’t about memory alone, even its tiniest details brim over with them.” …
*Excerpt from SSENSE
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