Review | Better Days film review: Zhou Dongyu is riveting in Derek Tsang’s deeply poignant bullying drama
- Jackson Yee stars opposite Zhou Dongyu in a heart-wrenching drama that examines the effects of bullying
- Directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung, it has been a big box office hit in mainland China
4.5/5 stars
Had Better Days been released in any other year, the film would have served as a far bigger endorsement of the talent of its director, the emerging Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung.
Still, good movies will always find their mark.
The film was thus starved of international attention. When it was belatedly released in mainland China, it proved a big hit at the box office.
Zhou Dongyu, who stars in Better Days, won the Golden Horse best actress prize for Soul Mate. Had she been in the running this year, it’s easy to see why she might have been tipped for the award again thanks to her heart-wrenching performance here.
She plays Chen Nian, an underprivileged student who becomes the target of vicious schoolyard bullying in the two months running up to her sitting the gaokao – China’s notoriously stressful college entrance exam.
Chen is harassed after publicly showing sympathy for another victim of bullying, and struggles to shield herself against the nightmarishly violent behaviour of her rich classmate Wei Lai (Zhou Ye) and her two accomplices.
To make matters worse, Chen’s single mother (Wu Yue) sells poor-quality face masks to earn money, and is constantly on the run from angry buyers.
Chen finds protection – and a hint of love – after she befriends orphaned street punk Bei (Jackson Yee). They find solace in each other’s company right up until the point Better Days, already bleak, finds a way to become even bleaker.
From there, the film morphs into a crime mystery in which Chen and Bei naively try to manipulate the police into believing their version of events. Their struggles and attempts at sacrifice will leave your heart hurting.
The gritty reality of bullying shown in Better Days leaves a lasting impression on the audience; ironically, a public service announcement shown before the film’s end credits explaining the Chinese authorities’ efforts to combat bullying (and, of course, to appease the censors) only adds to that impression.
This is, without a doubt, one of the best films of 2019.
