The Big Sick

This charming movie about a Pakistani-American man falling in love with a white girl stars Kumail Nanjiani and is based on his own story. When Kumail starts dating Emily (Zoe Kazan), he knows it will upset his strict Muslim family. Kumail tries to keep the affair secret, fending off his mother's attempts to arrange a marriage, and it seems the pair's cultural differences will prove too great for the relationship to work. However, when Emily falls ill with a mystery illness and has to be put into a medically induced coma, Kumail realises that he's serious about her. Like many true stories, the material doesn't quite sustain a two-hour movie, but the script - co-written by Nanjiani with the real-life Emily - is often laugh-out-loud funny, bravely tackling interracial tensions in post-9/11 America. Really, though, it's just an old-fashioned love story - and it works beautifully.