Rolling Stone
‘Farewell Amor’ Review: A Family Reunion, Fraught With Tension
A story of an immigrant starting a new life with his wife and daughter in America becomes an intimate, indelible three-way character study
By
IFC Films
Farewell Amor, the debut feature from writer-director Ekwa Msangi, begins with a homecoming. At the airport, Walter (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine), an Angolan refugee who now makes his living as a cab driver in New York, gingerly greets his wife and teenage daughter. His family has finally made it to the U.S. after waiting 17 years for the proper visas. The trio exchanges awkward hugs. Walter asks his daughter, Sylvia (Jayme Lawson), to spin around so he can see how she’s grown. They search each other’s faces, trying to discern how much has changed and what, if anything has remained the same.