Better Days

When survival is the only thing that matters

Better Days hit me much harder than I expected. What starts as a story about school bullying slowly becomes something much heavier — a look at how lonely and brutal adolescence can be when the system around you only cares about results.

Chen Nian and Xiao Bei feel incredibly real as characters. Neither of them are perfect, but that’s exactly what makes their bond so powerful. They’re just two kids trying to survive in a world that has already given up on them.

The film is quiet, intense, and emotionally exhausting in the best way. By the end I didn’t just feel sad — I felt like I had witnessed something painfully honest about growing up.

Definitely one of the most moving films I’ve watched in a long time.

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You'll protect the world. I'll protect you.

This movie features the relationship of two broken teens that find solace in each other in very dark moments in their life. The way they care for each other and how their bond was formed through trauma was both heartbreaking and amazing. It is a dark and heavy watch which still had some welcome (while unexpected) moments of hope and light shining through the pain.

The cinematography was great : there a lot of striking scenes that left me a memorable impression. The way the director managed to bring to screen the tension felt by young people going through exams and social pressure at that crucial moment of time was excellent. The way the few moments of freedom and carefreeness shown among the heavy burden carried by the leads was very moving.

The cast did overall an excellent job with Zhou Dong Yu and Jackson Yee being incredible. I did not know Zhou Dong Yu and but I already knew that Jackson Yee was amazing...Here they both impressed me so much that I for sure plan to watch more of their filmography. The way their eyes bore so much weight and pain and care : simply striking !

I would strongly recommend this to people that are looking for a well-written story supported by excellent acting. There are some minor flaws regarding its pacing and the fact I would have loved to see even more deepened some elements but overall it took me on an intense journey that I will not forget.

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A film that deserves a 10/10 sincerely

Of all the films I have been able to see on the issues addressed, THIS film is my top 1:

The subject matter is bullying, a bit cliché at first glance, and social pressure / pressure on young people at school. During the whole movie, we can see several times propaganda about studies, like for example "the intelligent go forward and the idiot go backwards" (it was something like that, but the main idea is that). Then we see that the personal problems of the characters are not "important" according to the adult's point of view.
That leaves a lot to be said about the society in which we live in China mainly.
But what stands out the most is the social differentiation between the characters: we have the typical girl who studies a lot, first in her class but who doesn't live in good conditions, her mother is a swindler and lives constantly in hiding, that's why she is rarely seen.
On the other hand we have the boy, a delinquent who doesn't go to class, therefore a person registered as dangerous, who lives in bad conditions, abandoned by his parents but who finds refuge with the girl, a refuge of love and affection that he has not been able to live.

They are two opposing characters who live in different worlds, but who become attached to each other because they have one thing in common: they both seek protection and love. Throughout the story, we follow them in their lives and we become attached to them.
It deserves a 10 because you can't find a film like this, the story is touching and unique. A masterpiece!

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Thanks to that one insta reel that made me watch this

What a movie! I was captivated by the aura of it by watching some clips and I'm glad I gave it a try. The story portrayed in this two hour fifteen minutes movie left me with so much emotions and thoughts. One thing I'd admit, the acting of both the leads was splendid. You could see the eyes talk, you could feel the sadness right through the screen. I was spoiled somewhere that ot didn't have a happy ending but I'm glad it wasn't the case. I'd not have the courage to move on otherwise. (I had to live through the college entrance trauma once again though.) Anyways, don't let anything or anyone stop you from watching this masterpiece. I know I'd rewatch it again and again.

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one of the best movies ive watched

coming from someone who only watching romance movies / dramas i wanted to watch this only because someone recommended it and even then it took me a while to just sit down and watch it but once i started it i was glued to my tv, it was so
(i am not super great at writing reviews i just felt like this movie deserved it,)
the plot of Better days is so emotional and sadly realistic in some aspects it was always keeping me interested into how it would turn out for the two mains and i just wanted things to be easier for both of them,
and if the plot and important message of this movie alone isn't good enough for you to watch it then you are in for a treat because everything about this movie was beautiful, the cinematography and scenes were perfect it felt so real and 100% convincing, every emotion that characters felt in the moment was displayed on screen so well and it made you feel the things they felt, it gave you a deeper dive into how they felt. The music was really fitting and was added in when needed (not to much not to little) + the intro set the tone of the movie well (into scene confused me at first but was short and i understood it at the end of the movie so its no big deal). The cast was a 10/10 for me, they fit the characters so well and the acting never made me cringe or even think they could do better, both main leads did an amazing job of getting into the characters, it felt so real the whole movie. this movie was so amazing and i could definitely re-watch it many times (i probably will be)
don't have a lot to say but if you haven't watched this movie you definitely should (please read the tags and make sure you can deal with topics that are discussed / shown in this movie)

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This movie is one of the good ones, I really enjoyed it, the chemistry between the main characters was amazing, and even though i'm reading the novel I think they portrayed the relationship of the youths really well.
One of the things that really attracted me in this movie was the details, the male character's place, clothes, hair and injuries really described his life, and his pain, he didn't look like a bad person even though he had all these tattoos, instead he looked lost, and dark.
As for the female character, she was portrayed in the novel as a stutterer and she acted like a child, but in the movie she's like one of these people, who knew a lot but kept it to herself.
I liked the first half of the movie better, the second half fell off for me, but overall, it was worth watching.

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There is something unique about Zhou Dongyu's choice of movies to star in.

I came into this movie with high expectations expecting an emotional story as its the custom with movies staring her
its a really good, realistic and engaging story with some fantastic acting from everyone .

Every one had chapters in their lives when they thought life would stop, you get in one hell of ride to visit some one's own chapter

this is the kind of movie where popcorn would probably not be very appealing , grab your seat, close the lights and enjoy this movie :)

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