Walking into this film, I had no clue what the story was about. I just wanted to watch Zhou Dongyu’s performance, and she did not disappoint at all, giving a profoundly touching performance which left the cinema sniffling by the end. But what really shocked me was Jackson Yee, who is surprisingly brilliant in “Better Days (少年的你)”. That’s not to say Zhou’s acting was bad, but based on her previous works, she had already established herself as a fantastic actress. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure about Yee as an actor, which makes this a pleasant surprise. A lot of times, when singers try their hand at acting, it is common for audiences to see the singer’s image in the characters, making it harder to immerse in the story. That is not the case here. Yee captures the helplessness of a troubled youth, struggling against the world and authorities while trying to protect the girl he loves. Zhou, despite being 27 this year, is very convincing as a high school student, with a pure and naïve personality but resilient in the face of trouble.
“Better Days” starts with the suicide of Chen Nian’s friend due to the constant bullying by her classmates. This sequence was absolutely shocking, despite never seeing the body of the dead girl or the act itself. Instead, we see Chen’s face as she stands in front of the body after running down from her classroom. The choice to show her face instead of the body suggests this incident is way more haunting to Chen than we can understand, and that is revealed later in the film when it flashes back to what the student said to Chen prior to the incident. This opening scene becomes way scarier when you see what the other students are doing – taking pictures of the body and spreading it in their group chats. And with that, “Better Days” hooks you from the start, but not with excitement or anticipation, but with dread and a tinge of sadness.
The most beautiful part of the film comes from the romance between Chen and Xiao Bei (Jackson Yee), which is full of touching moments. One particularly beautiful line from the film is when Chen says her dream is to save the world if possible, and Bei’s reply is simple. “You protect the world, I’ll protect you.” At the end of the film, in a mid-credits scene, Chen is now an English teacher. When she notices a student in her class is particularly quiet and doesn’t interact with the class, she understands what the student is going through and decides to help her. As Chen walks the student home, Bei follows behind, fulfilling his promise of protecting Chen as she protects the world.
However, “Better Days” is not a light-hearted romance drama like some of Zhou’s previous works, instead, it is an examination of the mental trauma caused by bullying. The film was initially censored, but it was allowed a release after edits were made, and it’s not hard to see why. The authorities and school administrators in the film were portrayed as pretty useless, unable to find hard evidence of bullying happening in the school, and the teachers seem to be more focused on the students’ grades. Yet the epilogue of the film shows the different changes to China’s anti-bullying policies these years, promoting more awareness in the community, which does seem to be an obvious interference from the censors.
Even so, “Better Days” is still an exceptional melodrama that audiences can relate to. Its brutal and realistic bullying scenes can be painful to watch, but perhaps that’s why this film is so important. Cinema is a reflection of reality in a made-up world, and when this reflection is able to inspire change in the real world, that’s the power of Cinema. “Better Days” is definitely one of those films.
★★★★½ (4.5 stars out of 5)
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