PROVOKR PICK: The Farewell
Awkwafina Shines in the Poignant Family Drama
Awkwafina is known for her comedic chops, wowing audiences in both Ocean’s 8 and Crazy Rich Asians, but now the rapper-turned-actress is stretching her dramatic muscles as the lead in Lulu Wang’s poignant new film The Farewell.
The Farewell follows Billi, a Chinese-American woman who travels to China to spend time with her grandmother who has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Billi’s grandmother, however, has not been informed she is dying, instead her family has created an elaborate ruse, a wedding, to explain why the whole family has gathered together. As Billi grapples with whether or not to tell her grandmother the truth she, and her Western values clash with those of her Eastern relatives.
Lulu Wang originally shared the story on which The Farewell is based on NPR’s This American Life in 2017. Wang shared the elaborate schemes and the lengths to which her family went to keep her grandmother in the dark about her own illness.
From the trailer, this film looks like it will be a deeply moving piece about family, and the ways in which we handle the news of a loved one’s imminent death, as well as the clash between immigrant and non-immigrant communities.
The film, which is in Mandarin and English, was shot primarily in Changchun, China with additional locations shot in New York City. It was written and directed by Lulu Wang and distributed by A24. In addition to Awkwafina, The Farewell stars Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, and Shuzhen Zhao.
The film will be released in theaters on July 12, 2019.
