Billi (Awkwafina) is devastated to learn that her beloved grandmother, Nai Nai (Zhao Shu-Zhen), has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Nai Nai is the only one who doesn't know, and Billi is told repeatedly by other family members that the knowledge must be kept from her so as to keep her from succumbing to despair. As an American, Billi struggles with this cultural clash but agrees to keep the secret. The family organizes a wedding for Billi's cousin (Chen Han) as an excuse for everyone to see Nai Nai for potentially the last time.
Once again, this was billed as a comedy but it is extremely not funny. Cancer sucks and watching someone die from it also sucks. As an American, I vehemently disagreed with withholding someone's medical information, but I also know it's not my job to police other cultures. Part of building empathy is exposure to new and unfamiliar ideas and practices.
So, once you get past the idea that this is somehow meant to be funny (and even the director called it a "nuanced drama" not a comedy), you can focus on the performances which are good but a little underbaked for my tastes. The movie focuses a lot on how adorable and feisty Nai Nai is and how much everyone loves her but I didn't really get much of a sense of who they were outside of their grief. If anything, I felt terrible for the cousin who was pressured into marrying his girlfriend of three months to sell this lie. I think he maybe has four lines of dialogue, the fiancée maybe two. Felt like the antithesis of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
It's streaming on Tubi for free or Kanopy with a library card.
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