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The Big Sick

The Big Sick

Comedy · Drama · Romance · 2017

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.

Movie details

The Big Sick

“An awkward true story.”

2017 Comedy · Drama · Romance 2h 0m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Big Sick?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Showalter

Written by

Emily V. Gordon · Kumail Nanjiani

Kumail Nanjiani

Kumail Nanjiani

Kumail Nanjiani

Zoe Kazan

Zoe Kazan

Emily Gardner

Holly Hunter

Holly Hunter

Beth Gardner

Ray Romano

Ray Romano

Terry Gardner

Anupam Kher

Anupam Kher

Azmat Nanjiani

Zenobia Shroff

Zenobia Shroff

Sharmeen Nanjiani

Adeel Akhtar

Adeel Akhtar

Naveed Nanjiani

Court is in session

Put The Big Sick on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.