Movie · 2019 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 40m · PG · English
Curator score: 9.0/10 (405.1K ratings)
Based on an actual lie.
Overview
A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is given a terminal diagnosis. 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.
Ratings
Curator score: 9.0/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 4.06/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Metacritic: 89
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Lulu Wang
Production
Big Beach, Depth of Field, Kindred Spirit, Seesaw Productions
Cast
Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen, Hong Lu, Hong Lin, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin Xiaojie, Yang Xuejian, Becca Khalil, Jiang Yongbo, Chen Han, Aoi Mizuhara, Li Xiang, Hongli Liu, Zhang Shimin, Zhang Jing, Jinhang Liu, Xi Lin, Shi Lichen, Lin Wang, Yue Xin
Curator Review
Verdict
A deeply moving family dramedy that balances grief, cultural tension, and dry humor with remarkable warmth. It’s especially rewarding if you like intimate, performance-driven films that find big emotion in small, specific details.
Best for
viewers who like emotional family stories with humor
audiences interested in immigrant or Asian-American perspectives
fans of subtle, character-driven drama
people who appreciate quiet, cathartic tearjerkers
Skip if
you want a plot-heavy or highly dramatic film
you dislike understated, conversational storytelling
you prefer broad comedy over bittersweet realism
Overview
The Farewell is one of those rare movies that feels both deeply personal and instantly universal. Lulu Wang builds the film around a morally complicated family lie, but the real power comes from how naturally it observes the awkward tenderness of relatives trying to protect one another. It’s funny in the way real family gatherings are funny: sudden, embarrassing, and often sitting right beside sadness.
Worth noting
Awkwafina gives a restrained, searching performance that anchors the film, but the emotional center is Zhao Shuzhen, whose presence gives the story its warmth and ache. The movie never forces tears; it earns them through small gestures, silences, and the feeling that everyone is carrying something they can’t fully say out loud.
Bottom line
What makes it linger is its specificity. This is not just a movie about family or grief in the abstract; it’s about the particular pressures of being between cultures, between languages, and between versions of the truth. The result is a tender, beautifully observed film that stays with you long after it ends.
Top Letterboxd reviews
davidehrlich (4.5★) · 6143 likes
don’t wanna overhype this modest little film, but it cleared my skin, did my taxes, solved Brexit, fixed the Oscars, got the Starbucks guy to stop running, convinced Weezer to retire, killed Mitch McConnell & made me really hungry.
do wish they'd nix the very final shot, as i feel it undercuts the ending a bit, but the closer a movie is to perfect the more i have to quibble.
Karsten (4.5★) · 3728 likes
Me laughing embarrassingly loud at a joke that took place in a graveyard is everything you need to know about this film. Lulu Wang is so good at writing conversations it’s not even funny. Nothing I say is gonna do this film justice, just please see it immediately.
Lucy (4.5★) · 3048 likes
“isn’t it wrong to lie?”
family is so simplistically complex: grief, joy and despair are often all mixed together. this was so rhythmically calming, and i can’t remember the last time i’ve heard an audience burst into laughter and then stop on a dime to reflect. this is skillfully made and every performance deserves recognition, but as i wrap up my review i’m gonna leave you with three words: awkwafina academy award
siobhan (5★) · 2620 likes
the scene towards the end where nai nai is waving goodbye at the taxi as it drives away and everything goes silent..... yeah that shit makes me cry every single time