When The Farewell opens with the text “based on an actual lie”, the viewer has no idea what to expect. Does this have to be interpreted comically? Or is that not the intention? It soon becomes clear what is going on. Billi (Akwafina) is calling her grandmother in China. What is immediately noticeable is that they both do not tell each other the truth. The grandmother does not tell her granddaughter that she is in the hospital for an MRI examination of her lungs, Billi tells her that everything is going well with her and meets friends while that is not the case. Lies are a common thread throughout the film. However, the biggest lie is that Billi’s grandmother has lung cancer, but the family decides not to tell her. The whole family travels to China, supposedly for a cousin’s wedding, to visit her one last time. Continue reading →