The Farewell (2019) on Netflix
Billi, a Chinese American writer, learns her grandmother Nai Nai has terminal lung cancer. The family keeps the diagnosis from Nai Nai and stages a cousin's wedding as an excuse to gather.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.5/1076,139 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes97%
Trailer
Plot summary
Billi lives in New York, where a rejection letter for a Guggenheim Fellowship arrives the same day she learns that her grandmother Nai Nai in Changchun has terminal lung cancer. Her parents, Haiyan and Jian, tell her the family will not reveal the diagnosis to Nai Nai, because they believe a patient who learns of cancer dies of fear. Instead, her cousin Hao Hao's wedding to Aiko has been arranged as a pretext to bring everyone to China for what may be a last visit. Told to stay home because her face betrays her feelings, Billi flies to Changchun anyway, where she joins the wedding preparations and the arguments over how the family should carry the lie.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Farewell (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
A closing title card reveals that six years after her diagnosis, Wang's real grandmother, the woman Nai Nai is based on, was still alive and still unaware of her sickness.- Director Lulu Wang kept the story's secret from her own grandmother during and after production; the grandmother visited the set, a block from her home, and only found out when a friend sent her a review of the film.
- Lulu Wang hit disheartening resistance while pitching: American and Chinese financiers wanted a prominent white character added and the nuanced drama punched up into a broad comedy.
- The film's opening weekend averaged $88,916 per venue from four theaters, the best average of 2019, beating Avengers: Endgame's $76,601.
