The Fare 2018 Watch Free

The Fare: A Story of Family, Deception, and Love

Discovering the Diagnosis

Aspiring Chinese-American writer Billi maintains a close relationship with Nai Nai (paternal grandmother) who lives in Changchun, China. After receiving a rejection letter for a Guggenheim Fellowship, she discovers from her parents, Haiyan and Jian, that Nai Nai has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and is predicted to have only a few months left to live.

A Family’s Deception

Through deception and manipulation of medical test results, the diagnosis is kept a secret from Nai Nai herself. She is, instead, falsely told that her recent doctor visits have only revealed benign findings. A wedding for Billi’s cousin from Japan, Hao Hao, has been planned in China as an excuse to unite the family to spend what is expected to be one last time with Nai Nai. Fearing Billi will end up exposing the lie to her grandmother, Haiyan and Jian tell her to remain in New York City.

Billi disobeys her parents’ orders and flies to Changchun shortly after the rest of the family arrive. She assures her parents that she will not reveal the cancer diagnosis to Nai Nai. Throughout the trip, however, she clashes with the rest of the family over their deliberate dishonesty towards her grandmother.

Conflicting Beliefs and Emotional Burdens

Guilt-ridden, Billi expresses conflicted thoughts with her parents over the Chinese cultural beliefs that result in a family refusing to disclose a life-threatening disease, including the trauma of her grandfather passing away after they moved to the United States.

One night, her uncle, Haibin, contends that the lie allows the family to bear the emotional burden of the diagnosis, rather than Nai Nai herself—a practice of collectivism that he acknowledges differs from the individualistic values common in Western culture. Billi later learns that Nai Nai also told a similar lie to her husband up until his death when he was terminally ill.

Keeping Up the Facade

On the day of the wedding, both Haibin and Hao Hao break down in tears on separate occasions but manage to proceed through the banquet without raising Nai Nai’s suspicions. Billi intercepts Nai Nai’s medical test results from the hospital and has it altered to reflect a clean bill of health, helping to maintain the lie.

That night, Nai Nai gives Billi a hóngbāo, encouraging her to spend the money as she chooses. Billi admits that she wants to stay in Changchun to spend more time with Nai Nai, but Nai Nai declines, telling her that she needs to live her own life.

Embracing Life and Accepting Fate

When Billi reveals the Guggenheim Fellowship rejection to her, Nai Nai encourages Billi to keep an open mind and not get hung up on this failure, “don’t be the bull endlessly ramming its horns into the corner of the room.” She says that “life is not about what things one does, but more so about how one goes about doing them”.

Billi keeps her promise to maintain the lie. She shares a tearful goodbye with Nai Nai as the visiting family members return to their homes in Japan and America. A title card reveals that six years after her diagnosis, the woman Nai Nai’s character was based on is still alive and still unaware of her sickness.

Watch The Fare Now for Free

Experience the emotional journey of family, love, and cultural differences in “The Fare.” Watch it now for free and witness the powerful storytelling that unfolds within this captivating film.