'The Farewell' Is an Emotional, Beautifully Crafted Comedy-Drama that Hits All the Right Notes

I'm Asian, and therefore, this movie is the greatest movie ever made. It cured cancer, made puppies even cuter, ended global warming, and created world peace. End of review.

Just kidding. This movie's not getting off that easy.

The Farewell (别告诉她) is a comedy-drama written and directed by Lulu Wang. The film stars Awkwafina as an Asian-American girl who finds out her grandmother is dying of lung cancer and she goes with her family to visit her, but decides not to tell her grandmother about her condition.

As an Asian-American, it's always great to see people of my ethnicity on the big screen, but rest assured, I'll judge this movie objectively, and having watched it, I can say that I objectively loved it.

This film tells a very emotional story that I think was beautifully told. As the story plays out, you truly get to care about these characters and what happens to them.

It has a very interesting conflict and all of the characters feel real. It really feels like we're watching a family go through this situation and we sympathize with them, and a lot of that comes from the great screenplay written by Wang.

Now, I don't want to talk too much about my own personal experience, but I really connected with this movie and how it illustrates the conflicts and disagreements between Western and Eastern customs.

The main character, Billi, is Asian-American like me, and I was really able to connect with her and how her Mandarin wasn't perfect and how she didn't always agree with the beliefs of her family, as well as how she kind of feels distant from them as a result.

Let's talk about Awkwafina's performance in this movie; she is nothing short of amazing in this movie. Many know her as a rapper and the comic relief character from Crazy Rich Asians, but she was able to really nail her dramatic role.

Everyone in this movie gives a truly believable performance in their roles, and they all do a great job of illustrating their sadness over the situation. I also liked how there are good reasons to support both sides for why they should and shouldn't tell her.

The film is also perfect in terms of its tone. Because it's a comedy-drama, and though it is mainly a drama, the comedic moments are still funny and never over-the-top to the point where they distract from the actual sad story.

What makes this movie especially emotional is the relationship and the connection that Billi has with her grandmother and why she is especially affected by these news, along with something else that has happened in Billi's past. She's a very well-developed character.

In terms of issues with this film, they're pretty minor. This movie qualifies as a "slow burn," as the story moves at a slow pace and it doesn't exactly go in too many new directions following its premise.

And I also feel like the final shot of this movie was unnecessary, and I feel like the ending would have been a bit better if it wasn't included. Personally, I also felt like scenes could have been a little more sad. I never felt like I was on the verge of crying, but others might sob at the end of this movie.

Overall, this movie tells a very emotional story that I think will resonate with audiences (Asian audiences in particular). It has great performances and it's a very beautiful, touching film.

I'm gonna give 'The Farewell' a 9/10 (A-).

This movie has had a very limited release; it was only playing in one theater here in NYC when I watched it, but it's expanded to a few more theaters in select cities.

I highly recommend this movie. If it's playing in a theater near you, go out, buy a ticket, watch it, and support independent filmmakers.