Rating: 4/5 -- After watching The Farewell, I found myself sad for no reason, and angry at the movie's happy ending. Full Review

4 stars out of 5 -- Ultimately, it’s all about balance, a yin and yang of roots and identities, humour and pathos that comes together into a satisfying, bittersweet wedding banquet of a movie.

Rating: 4/4 -- You've probably never heard of Shuzhen Zhao who brings Nai Nai to life, but she will create a lasting memory in this role. She's spunky, smart, trusting, and above all, loving, exactly what the term "grandma" means. Full Review

THE FAREWELL leaves you marveling at sincerity, selflessness, and grace, and nursing a need to call your grandmother, no matter how long it’s been.'

[I]t’s a smart move to keep things understated, easing us along with funny situations, while subtly weaving a second kind of sadness underneath...

Lulu Wang’s sophomore feature captures this tension with tenderness and despair, revisiting the inter-generational family drama -- the kind a pre-Hollywood Ang Lee specialized in -- through the lens of first generation Chinese-Americans.

The Farewell is certainly dialogue-heavy, but it captures the Wang family dynamic through blocking and movement, as Billi both stands out as a westerner in her former homeland, and gets caught up in the sweep of family rituals and idiosyncrasies. Full Review