Better Days

Better Days represents Hong Kong for this year's International Film Oscar. Derek Tsang's high school melodrama is based on Jiu Yuexi's novel In His Youth, In Her Beauty, also translated as Young & Beautiful. Time to read why it's good.

Chen Nian (Zhou Dongyu) is a high schooler preparing for her College Entrance Exam. One day, her best friend, Hu Xiaodie (Zhang Yifan) jumps to her death at school. Chen Nian covers up her body with her jacket. Afterwards, Chen Nian is targeted for torment by mean girl Wei Lai (Zhou Ye) and her crew. One night, she accidentally walks by some thugs beating up a rival. The thugs jump her, but the unlucky guy, Xiao Bei (Jackson Yee), drives them off.

It's not love at first sight. But Chen Nian accepts Xiao Bei's help when Wei Lai's bullying gets worse. He even helps her study for her entrance exam; that way, she can have the bright future he can't. Their days are darkened when Wei Lai is found dead, and they are the suspects.

Its story steadily builds up Chen Nian and Xiao Bei's relationship for 136 minutes. We get to know the wounded man behind the tough guy. We see her troubled life. We get to see how she becomes stronger, and he grows more selfless. Him helping her after a particularly vicious attack was a nice scene. It gets quite melodramatic when he takes the rap.

Meanwhile, the film heavily critiques bullying amidst a rigid and uncaring society. We see it in a subplot with a sympathetic detective (Yin Fang) who first investigates Chen Nian's bullying, and then the murder. He's shocked by the bullying, but as another detective says, it's always been like this. "If you weren't the bully, then you were being bullied."

The acting is good, too. Zhou Dongyu and Jackson Yee's chemistry is compelling, and their characters are believable. Wei Lai and her crew are perfectly loathsome individuals, but they're also victims of their society, too. Wei Lai is surprisingly sympathetic when her father slaps her around and later, in her final moments. Wu Yue is also sympathetic as Chen Nian's mother, who sells lackluster face masks, and wants her daughter to succeed. The detectives are likable as well. 

Yu Jing-Pin's cinematography is the technical star. There's some spectacular sky photography and gritty urban locales. The bullying is nightmarish in those conditions. Varqa Buehrer's score is perfectly melodramatic, while the back-and-forth editing by Zhang Yibo in a few scenes takes time to get used to. Its best edited scene is near the end; that's all I'll say.

Better Days struggled with local censors before its release in 2019. But at least it made it. Its anti-bullying themes needed to be heard. Its lead characters liven up the familiar "good girl meets bad boy" plot. Even the villains are a tad sympathetic. Its ending offers hope for anyone facing bullying. See it for yourself on your favorite streaming service; once again, I chose Prime. It's a welcome addition to this year's Oscars.