The Farewell

Lots of heavy stuff, to be sure, and there are times when The Farewell delivers powerful emotional blows, and we ache for Billi and what she's going through - in large part because Awkwafina's performance is so raw and authentic and in the moment.

On the plus side, Ms. Wang puts her Panavision lens to impeccable use. You can count the number of closeups on one hand.

The end result is life-affirming and the average viewer is likely to leave the film feeling uplifted.

The deep compassion of The Farewell lifts it above its absurd premise.

Like her heroine, Wang straddles the fence and argues from either side of it; like her, the movie is profoundly Chinese-American, speaking to both audiences and able to be enjoyed by both.

When each of us contains multitudes, "The Farewell" suggests, home is everywhere, or anywhere we happen to be.

How The Farewell balances questions about cultural heritage and the morality of honesty is immersive and lovely.

What Wang constructs is a film that packs an emotional punch one minute and has you laughing the next.

The Farewell is a gift, a stunning, emotional, and nuanced piece of storytelling that will indeed make you want to call your grandmother afterward.

Lulu Wang artfully creates something that's less of an explanation and more of an exploration.