A Chinese family discovers their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
When Billi (played by Awkwafina) finds out her grandmother Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) is dying of cancer, she returns to China to say goodbye but is forced to hide her sadness because Nai Nai has no idea she is dying. As the family has decided to conceal her condition, they prepare for an abrupt wedding for a cousin, which is their excuse for the sudden visit.
As Billi spends her days with Nai Nai, she feels compelled to tell her the truth but cannot go against her family’s wishes. Being born and raised in America, she struggles with the cultural differences of how Chinese families deal with grieving and death. Emotions are rarely seen and things are covered up or shoved under the rug not to be discussed. When she confronts her mother, she finds out other deaths in the family were concealed as well but her mother reveals that she has quietly grieved and reminds Billi that it is just as painful even though it is not expressed outwardly, which is not believed to be helpful to anyone.
When Nai Nai returns to the doctor to change her prescription, the family rushes to get there first making sure she doesn’t receive her medical records. The doctor assures Billi that he too never told his mother about her terminal cancer and it was best that way. With her grandmother having no knowledge of her soon mortality, she plans her grandson’s wedding and continues to enjoy life and goes on to live for 6 more years.
I enjoyed this film and I think it opens a conversation about cultural differences, not just between Chinese and Americans, but others as well. I loved and hated the idea of concealing a terminal illness of a loved one. Loved it because not having the stress of counting down your last days must be amazing, however, I hated it because lying is just wrong especially coming from a medical professional.
This film did have some emotional moments but overall kept a very light, somewhat funny energy. I say somewhat because I thought it could have been better without most of the jokes, I felt it tried hard to be humorous all the time but just ended up annoying me. Anyway, a good movie and definitely worth checking out.
In theaters Friday, July 12th
