The Big Sick

“An awkward true story.”

An illness no one can name puts Emily Gardner (Zoe Kazan) in a hospital bed, just as she and Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani), a Pakistani-born stand-up comedian, are working out whether they can stay together. Michael Showalter, directing a script Nanjiani wrote with Emily V. Gordon, keeps the waiting room as funny as it is frightening. Kumail ends up beside Emily's parents, Beth (Holly Hunter) and Terry (Ray Romano), while his own family keeps asking him to choose.