Room – 93%

The film that brought Brie Larsen to fame and an Oscar, Room is the story of Joy and Jack, a mother and son. Joy has been held in captivity for seven years by a person known as Old Nick, her five-year-old son only knowing the confined space of the room they are held in. The film explores what happens as Joy tries to explain to Jack that the outside world they see on television is real and that the situation they are in is a very bad one.

Saint Maud – 93%

Seen by many as one of the great horror films of recent years Saint Maud is the story of a very religious nurse hired to care for the cosmopolitan and sophisticated former dancer Amanda. It is not long before Maud’s extreme religious ideas clash with the freer lifestyle enjoyed by Amanda and we realise Maud is not just religious but prepared to do terrible things as part of her beliefs.

First Reformed – 94%

A highly critically acclaimed film, First Reformed stars Ethan Hawke as Reverend Ernest Toller, a minister of a small – but historic – church, Toller is struggling with his own faith and the future of his church while trying to offer support for his congregation. After a woman asks Toller to speak to her husband, whose behaviour increasingly causes for alarm, he agrees to help and becomes more involved in the family.

De Palma – 95%

This is a documentary by Noah Baumbach on Hollywood legend Brian De Palma, director and writer of films like Carrie, Snake Eyes and The Untouchables. This is an extensive conversation with De Palma himself and archive footage from his films, he talks about filmmaking, the difficulties of working with companies to make films and film censorship in America.

Amy – 95%

A heartbreaking documentary about singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse looking at her life both before and after she became famous as well as looking at her addiction issues and how those issues were handled by the media and what impact this had on her. The film captures a lot of the highs and lows of Winehouse’s life but what is perhaps the most striking is reviewing the media speculation on her life and the outright bullying that came with it – Amy Winehouse became a constant punchline to tv hosts, comedians and more, with no consideration given to how this would impact her and those around her.

Everything Everywhere All At Once – 95%

The newest entry on the list is the uncategorisable, undefinable and perhaps un-reviewable Everything Everywhere All At Once. This is a film so brilliant and bizarre that a whole article just reviewing this one film would be insufficient let alone a collection of reviews. The film is a martial-arts blockbuster romantic-comedy avant-garde sci-fi family drama and one of the most enjoyable films of recent years.

Menashe – 96%

Menashe is a comedy-drama about a recent widower, Menashe, trying to raise his son in New York. As Menashe is part of the Orthodox Jewish community the rabbi insists his son lives with his aunt and uncle, as a single-parent family cannot possibly raise a child (in the eyes of the rabbi). Menashe is clearly a devoted and caring father who throughout insists he knows what is best for his family, and for his son. This film is almost entirely in Yiddish, with only a few instances of characters speaking in English.

The Florida Project – 96%

The Florida Project is a comedy-drama about a struggling mother and daughter, living in a motel, a stone’s throw from Disney World. There is a near-constant contrast between the financial difficulties of the family and a titanic symbol of American culture and success, indeed, the motel is called The Magic Castle, to either evoke the theme park or trick unsuspecting tourists that it is the Magic Kingdom of Disney fame. The daughter, six-year-old Moonee, is left to her own devices as her mother works and she spends time with other guests and the area around with motel manager Bobby as a protective figure to the various children.

First Cow – 96%

A film set mainly in 1820s America with a plot revolving around the first cow of a tiny town, two men, chef Cookie and Chinese immigrant Lu, concoct a money-making scheme where they will steal the milk from the cow to make cookies and other treats. Their idea is very successful with the small and isolated town lacking just about everything cookies are a luxury that everyone wants but they both know this is a serious crime and inevitably things become more complicated. The film is a sad but loving tale of the friendship between Cookie and Lu, as well as the impossibility of a poor person to better themselves without breaking the law.

The Farewell – 97%

The Farewell is based on the true life experiences of director and writer Lulu Wang; Billi is an aspiring Chinese-American writer living in New York and finds out that her grandmother, Nai Nai, still living in China, only has a few months to live. The family have made the decision to not tell Nai Nai and let her live her life unaware of the terminal diagnosis, and arrange a large family gathering in China. Billi’s family suspect she will turn her Nai Nai the truth and much is made of the different cultural norms in China and America, Billi feeling like her Nai Nai has a right to know the truth versus her family’s idea that they can spare their beloved relative fear and suffering.

Lady Bird – 99%

Already considered one of the great coming of age movies Lady Bird is an emotional and hilarious film and goes through many of the typical teenage dramas everyone goes through. The film was written and directed by Greta Gerwig in her first major directorial role and with a 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes and five Oscar nominations, she probably considers it a successful first outing.

On The Seventh Day – 100%

Despite having a truly spectacular 100% score from Rotten Tomatoes this is not a particularly prominent film. A 100% score means that all of the thirty critics listed on the site reviewing the film gave it a positive review. On Rotten Tomatoes The Godfather has four critics willing to damn that film and no one said anything bad about On The Seventh Day. The film is a story about a young undocumented immigrant, Jose, in America who as well as working as a delivery worker plays on an amateur football team and with the championship coming up, Jose’s boss insists he works that day. The film takes place during the seven days between Jose learning his boss wants him to work and the championship game as he tries to work out what he should do.

Also Read: The Unlikely Success of A24

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In 2013, Wang found out her grandmother (her Nai Nai) had Stage 4 Lung Cancer and was given three months to live. Her family decided not to tell Nai Nai she was sick, something that is relatively common in China, as a way to spare her the pain of knowing that her life was ending. Instead, they staged a ruse wedding as an excuse for everyone to travel home, to Changchun, and say goodbye. 

The Farwell is introspective and layered with a beautifully melancholic score by Alex Weston and gorgeous cinematography by Anna Franquesa Solano. It is a rich meditation on culture, family values, the familial bond, mortality, morality, truth, and pain. It features a cast of talented actors, who imbue the family at the centre of the story with nuance and complexity, led by a dazzling Awkwafina as Billi, a Chinese-American woman who acts as a stand-in for Wang. 

As Billi returns to China she is forced to confront the parts of herself that have shifted since she left when she was six-years-old. It was a move that left her feeling disjointed. In China, she feels American, she speaks a language she can’t read and every so often doesn’t understand certain words or phrases. In America, she feels lonely. Her family and her happiest memories are from her childhood in Changchun. She feels as if her connection to her home is dwindling, fizzling out before her eyes. The house she lived in was sold, her Nai Nai’s old house is long gone since the neighbourhood was renovated, and she lost her Grandfather when she was younger and was unable to attend his funeral. When she hears Nai Nai’s diagnosis, she fears she’ll lose her too and her connections to her childhood, and to China, will be severed for good. 

Billi wants this visit, the one that might be her last with Nai Nai, to mean something but she’s not sure it can if Nai Nai doesn’t know the truth. In western culture, we are obsessed with knowing everything, obsessed with the truth no matter how much it hurts. We cannot conceive, even for a second, that knowing it all might not be in our best interests. We have difficulty embracing the mere idea of collectivism, as our identities are often built around the western ideal of individualism and our societies exist around the self, our histories are built on it. We live our lives within family units and social groups but ultimately we live for ourselves, first and foremost, but The Farwell lays out its delicate counter-argument. 

‘In the East, a person’s life is part of a whole,’ Billi’s uncle reminds her, that Chinese culture and family values differ significantly from her American ones. It is then, their final act of kindness, of love, to carry the emotional burden of illness for a family member. To let them live their final few months without that knowledge, without the emotional weight of such news. As the old phrase goes: what we don’t know can’t hurt us. Or, as Billi’s mother says, ‘When people get cancer they die… it isn’t the cancer that kills them, it’s the fear.’ 

The Farwell is not unaccompanied this year either, as 2019 has been a busy year for directors exploring their personal histories, with the past two months alone seeing the release of Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory and Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir. Yet, even in a somewhat crowded field, Wang’s film feels distinctly unique. It’s deeply particular and has emotional heft that writhes beneath the surface. The evocations of childhood, Billi’s grandfather, and her inner conflicts are exquisitely drawn yet Wang deftly weaves in moments of comedy that are tender, perfectly contrasting the sombreness of the occasion – often boldly directly juxtaposing the two. 

The Farwell is uprooting in the best ways. It modifies your thought process, dissects your preconceived notions and challenges you to let them go. It’s quiet and looming, with each character being worthy of their own two-hour film to see how they respond to the lie. The Farewell is the kind of film that demonstrates what cinema can be (powerful, moving, and specific) especially when diverse creators are able to handle their own stories, ones they draw from personal experience. It’s clear that Wang is a bold cinematic voice, one that has something distinct and nuanced to say, with a long career ahead of her. So, rather ironically, The Farewell feels like a significant arrival. 

Rating: (5 / 5)

The Farewell is in cinemas nationwide on the 20^th September.

Also Read: The Unlikely Sucess of A24

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