The Big Sick
1 Oscar Nominations
Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.
What critics thought
One of the most warmly received romantic comedies in years, The Big Sick wins critics over with its true-story specificity, cross-cultural tensions, and lead performances that feel genuinely lived-in rather than scripted. The main dissent comes from The New Yorker's corner, where the film's very likability is treated as a liability — its smoothness seen as a dilution of real comic and dramatic bite.
“It is funny and smart and wise and silly, it is romantic and sweet and just cynical enough, and it is without a doubt one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in a long time.”
Richard Roeper·Chicago Sun-Times
“revitalizing an often moribund subgenre with a true story of love, death and the everyday comedy of being a 21st-century American.”
Manohla Dargis·The New York Times
“the film suffers from an excess of pleasantness, and this very pleasantness thins out its substance, blands out its tone, weakens its comedy.”
Richard Brody·The New Yorker
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorMichael Showalter
StarringKumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher
ComposerMichael Andrews
The Big Sick
1 Oscar Nominations
Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family's expectations, and his true feelings.
What critics thought
One of the most warmly received romantic comedies in years, The Big Sick wins critics over with its true-story specificity, cross-cultural tensions, and lead performances that feel genuinely lived-in rather than scripted. The main dissent comes from The New Yorker's corner, where the film's very likability is treated as a liability — its smoothness seen as a dilution of real comic and dramatic bite.
“It is funny and smart and wise and silly, it is romantic and sweet and just cynical enough, and it is without a doubt one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in a long time.”
Richard Roeper·Chicago Sun-Times
“revitalizing an often moribund subgenre with a true story of love, death and the everyday comedy of being a 21st-century American.”
Manohla Dargis·The New York Times
“the film suffers from an excess of pleasantness, and this very pleasantness thins out its substance, blands out its tone, weakens its comedy.”
Richard Brody·The New Yorker
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorMichael Showalter
StarringKumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher
ComposerMichael Andrews