The Big Sick (2017)

Jumpa Lahiri writes about the tension that exists for immigrants to the United States to both assimilate and marry their own.  Khalil Nanjiani does a magnificent job of bringing this home in the very best way that I have seen.
You could call this movie a romantic comedy and that would be accurate, because there are indeed elements of romance and comedy.  The film explores clashes across cultures and generations for laughs that are specific to Nanjiani’s experience but also resonate universally. The movie also functions as an astutely insightful exploration of how we live now with the Pakistan-born comic, starring as himself, enduring racism that’s both casual and pointed.
But the pivotal plot point in “The Big Sick” is a potentially deadly illness—hence the title—which provides not only drama and catharsis but also dark humor, and it allows the film’s characters to evolve in ways that feel substantial and real.  Nanjiani is horribly torn between losing his family and losing his girlfriend, and while he chose his family, once he is faced with Emily's potential death he realizes that he cannot lose her.  So he has a do over.  It is just fabulous, one of the best movies I have seen in a while.