Better Days (2019)

Better Days (aka Shaonian de ni) review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

There exists perhaps too much a flowery portrayal of high school that movies tend to favor. Better Days feels like one of the first to stress the real pressures that come with both academic demands and increasingly intense bullying. This intensity is showcased very early in the film. The big exams of a Chinese school is only weeks away and everybody in the entire town seems to be focusing everything have on seniors' passing. One senior launch herself off the balcony and falls to her death in the courtyard. She has been bullied into such a state. The students crowd around while the teachers angrily demand the teenagers return to their studies.

The only student who seems to take some pity in the situation rather than shock is the student Chen. She knows the pain. Her single mother is venturing off on a business venture to pay for their lives and she finds herself hiding from debt collectors during evening hours. Chen is quiet but her brief display of compassion makes her the latest target of the bullies. She finds few places to turn, considering the police investigation of the suicide tied the girl’s death to the popular kids but bore nothing. Even if it did, the investigations are stifled and interrupted by teachers and staff insisting that the teens get back to studying.

Chen lives a lonely life until she shows additional compassion to the street gangster of Liu. As a dropout, Liu struggles to live on the streets and realizes his life is something he doesn’t want to share with Chen. They connect but he favors keeping his distance in public, just in case the authorities want to tie her into his dirty dealings.

The two desperately need each other on an emotional level. Liu requires someone to stand by him and show him more love than fear. Chen needs some inspiration for a backbone and not letting such bullying fly. During one conversation, she shares the wisdom of her mother and most likely that of all high school students, that all that matters during your high school life is your studies. Just ignore everything else, even the bullies. But the bullies will not leave Chen alone. Their harassment will only grow worse, to the point of becoming violent and taking nude pictures of the girl as she is sexually harassed. Does Chen simply ignore that as well?

All of this leads up to the incident where Chen, in her blind rage, pushes one of the pushy popular girls down a flight of stairs and kills her. Chen panics, fearing she has ruined her life for becoming a murderer. Liu, figuring his life is already over, vows to take the fall for her. But staging this death to be a murder of his own won’t be easy when the cunning police force starts becoming wise to the case.

Better Days highlights a lot of pressures that sometimes seem unseen from adulthood of the struggles of being a teenager. Chen’s struggle feels real and tragic with clawing desperation that nobody will help her. In truth, I’m surprised such a critical film made it through China’s usually strict standards for portraying the country. The caveat was most definitely the ending in which Chen and Liu are both held accountable for their actions, leaving a very bittersweet end to their journey that almost robs the picture of some sense of catharsis for those who feel the system has wronged them. I can’t help but wonder if the film had a different type of ending where Chen worked towards waiting for Liu to be released from prison.

As the movie stands, however, it’s a highly compelling teen drama that treats the characters with an earnest level of sympathy, compassion, and rage. It’s a romantic drama that treats its young characters with a certain dignity and passion that rings true with romance that is genuine and struggles that are real. It’s a shining example of how to make films that treat the issues of adolescence shedding with real grit and maturity, something I hope to see more of in future films of this genre.