Better Days
2019
*****
Director: Derek Tsang
Cast: Zhou Dongyu, Jackson Yee, Yin Fang, Huang Jue, Wu Yue, Zhou Ye, Gao Taiyu, Zhang Yifan, Li Qian, Zhang Yuqi
Chen Nian, a high school student in China, prepares for the rigorous college entrance exams while she is viciously bullied by her classmates. She meets a young street thug, Xiao Bei, who becomes her protector. Derek Tsang's heart-wrenching romantic drama is full of misery, cruelty, and hardship. In fact, I don't remember a film with so much crying. However, this tale of two outcasts who gradually fall in love is beautifully told, and it features some riveting individual scenes. The film tells a deeply moving personal story, but also deals with bullying, mental health issues, and the pressure young people are under in a competitive educational system. Adapted from Jiu Yuexi's 2016 novel In His Youth, In Her Beauty.
