Better Days

Wonderfully told. Beautiful story that can make you cry for many reasons.

This is a very beautiful film! No wonder it was nominated in Oscars for Best International Film. I think it also deserves to win it all. Made me cry from the start up to end. I cried because it's sad, I also cried because of anger. I cried because of the destructive events in this movie and I cried the most in the end because of happiness and fulfillment.

This movie told a wonderful story about bullying and seeing hope despite what's happening to you. The performance of the two main leads is a masterpiece. I can see the hardships in their eyes very clearly as if they are the true persons behind the story they are telling to us. The love they had is very pure and seeing their lonely eyes makes me cry.

The theme of this movie was on point and perfectly blends to the cinematography to deliver the right feelings to the viewers.

Everything in this film is just beautiful, might be heartbreaking but the resolution of the movie will give you relief. This is a must watch movie especially to those who experienced and seen any types of bullying. After watching this, now it's one of my favorite movie of all time!

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Whenever I see a major bullying themed series, I always immediately stay away from it. Iam not a fan of the genre as a whole because I often felt it was predictable in the manner in which the lead will want to get revenge and that is the main story line.
let me tell you that this is different, it is a breath of fresh air in this genre. Firstly, I loved the attention to detail the cast and the writers paid in this film, the cinematic experience as a whole was good because it had realistic color grading, that honestly did a lot of justice towards the film. Secondly the lighting, this was one of those details that simply carried the emotions of the film, in the manner in which the director maintains the melancholic feel of the movie.
A comment on each lead character:
female lead:
She had an extreme sense of wanting to survive and leave her old life behind, she wanted to escape and there was only one way to succeed. I loved the way she steadfast in her belief to see Beijing. All her actions are driven by her burning desire to escape her life.
Male lead:
The appearance of the female lead sort of gives ml something meaningful and worthwhile to live for, something to care about
and this allows the audience to see to what extent he is willing to go for his newly found sense of belonging.

Now I am by the part that I would say is the groundbreaking factor of this film, the chemistry between the leads, the way in which you felt their emotion and the way in which you understood their love yet neither of them ever said it out loud.
Yes, this is the kind of love I absolutely love.
The best part was the overall theme of protection and survival, they both were similar yet so different. Both abandoned in their own way. Him always being behind her was such a clever idea not just because of the plot but also because of the theme, she found peace knowing he was always behind her, and he found someone he wanted to protect more than himself.
This film showed me that even with no words said we can all feel, I cried so hard throughout this film because of subtle and delicate their love was yet it was just as passionate and strong.

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Stunning. Breathtaking. Eye-opening. A masterpiece.

This movie was absolutely breathtaking. In the most beautiful and horrific ways. It was real, and scary, and eye-opening, but it also found beauty in worst of times. The acting was absolutely incredible. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would I can't believe how raw the emotions were. Especially in the scene at the end, where they see each other again through the glass. Incredible. The filming was incredible. It was clear that each and every shot had been taken in the most meticulous way. I'm stunned, taken aback, in awe. A breathtaking piece. A masterpiece. The ending was beautiful . I can't express how much I loved this movie. I would 100% watch it again and I highly highly recommend it.

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Never ignores it!

Bullying are real. No matter unintentionally done or unconsciously said. It could happened anywhere and in any form. You won’t realize the second you became timid in a person or harsh in commenting. Just because you deserves an opinion or to have a character.
In my teen years, I was a bit confuse of how friendships works. And I was hopping so much to be accepted by my so called colleagues.
This movie reminds me of that, of those precious moments which made me learn to accept differences. To see beyond appearances. And to be carefully with words.
This movie has Jackson Yi and I am so proud of him here. He scares me (in a good way of course). His fierce eyes tells his character well. I don’t even understand Mandarin language. But I know in his every gesture and stare, he made his character alive and told his story well.
I wish I could rate this movie 100 or more... then again... What I would wish more is that anyone who had seen this movie will changed to be a better Human being.
To stop bullying (in any form). To pays mor respects with each other and life. To spoke opinion wisely. To deliver negativity in an honest but kind ways (it’s possible when it get’s harder to type then you already trying to care). To help in anyway without hesitation.
Watch this each time you feel hesitant or on the crossroads for something... Be calm then choose wisely.

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Eye opener

I usually only watch fluffy, bright and cheesy love stories....however this caught my eye, when i was scrolling true tiktok 😉
The directing and production of this movie could have been better, however i loved the story and actors, you could truely see how they were connected to eachother! I would have loved to see their story continue....in the end they do say what happend to the girl. But they didnt say what happend to the boy...

They skipped to many details and sometimes didnt explain the flashback correcly...you basically have to make your own conclusions. That was the only negative thing i can say about this movie!

Definately worth 2,5 hours watch!

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A Harrowing Depiction of Reality

“Chen Nian, you’re the first person to ask me if it hurts.”

Went in without much expectation, but left feeling utterly exhausted— both mentally and physically. "Better Days" is one of the few films I would classify as "masterpieces," which are very few.

The film centers around two young adults who both met eachother connected by their pain and stuck to eachother because of the comfort both provided to ease their pain.

ZDY and JY’s performance in 'Better Days' was more than phoenomenal. The two acted with their eyes. Just scenes of pure silence with the two staring at eachother spoke a thousand words and coveyed thousands of emotions.

Cinematography and production are awe-inspiring. Although the cinematography was relatively simple, the directors really knew how to incorporate the little details, such as background music, certain angles, and other visual enhancers to weave an atmosphere so suffocating, depressing— yet undeniably fitting to the theme of the movie.

That being said, if you’re looking for a tear-jerker, I can’t recommend "Better Days" enough.

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Perfectly executed

I hardly watch any serious movies as I prefer rainbows & cupcakes kind of dramas to destress from the real world. However this movie is incredible I end up watching 3x and teared up all 3x!!!
The acting left me speechless. You can feel their inner emotions with so little words.

It's a dark peace that shed light on the ever growing school bullying issue. Despite the gloomy reality for the leads from different worlds together they had hope still for better days.
The only character that annoyed the crap out of me was the female cop. Wow I just wanted to slap her character that is.

You'll have to to wait for after the credits to see more of the ending.

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Everything about this movie was amazing. I cried so much and it was honestly probably the best Chinese movie I've ever watched. There were so many emotions and I loved how there was a lot of extreme stuff but it was realistic at the same time. It showed a lot of struggles and had me crying every few minutes. The end confused me a bit but that was just because I'm kinda dumb. I watched this a year ago so I don't remember everything clearly but I do remember that it had me sobbing while watching and then sobbing all over again after it was done because the movie was over and it would take me really long to find a movie that good again. You should definitely watch it if you haven't already.

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WOW - Just WOW

Powerful movie. I won't give any spoilers. I will say that my university Chinese instructor shows a couple of movies every semester and I am going to recommend this one to her for fall 2025. I am also going to see if I can actually find a DVD available for purchase.
I didn't cry but I definitely could feel tension and sadness within myself while watching this. I was never bullied and to the best of my knowledge I didn't know anyone who was bullied when I was in school. BUT, I am an English tutor now and one of my students had to transfer schools because he was being bullied so much. My heart hurt for him because he is a delightful third grader.
Anyway, I would highly recommend watching this movie. Excellent work by the cast. This came out in 2019 and I noticed two actors that I have seen in dramas I have watched so it was cool to see them in some of their earlier work. I also loved the realism of the faces done by makeup people. The characters looked like real people instead of the perfectly made up idol faces we see in TV dramas.

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Whaou

I actually watched it because my friend wanted to watch it. I came with no expectations and didn't even knew what it was going to be about.
I am not a fan of bully stories but I think the way the actors really portrayed EVERY emotions made me so vunerable and I felt every single sensation. They are making us swim into our cruel reality. They trust, help, love each other through everything. They are here for the other, not alone.

This movie is art. Visually it is amazing but we can't stop only at its beauty. They are putting meaning in everything. Even tho i am not a fan of long movies, the thought of it ending never occured to me once.

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