Better Days is a 2019 film from Hong Kong directed by Derek Tsang.
It is a tale of out-of-control bullying at a Chinese prep school. Chen Nian is 18, and is weeks away from taking a crucial college entrance exam. At the beginning of the film she witnesses the suicide of Hu Xiaodie, another student, driven to suicide by bullying. The bullies, led by a remorseless sociopath of a girl named Wei Lai, zero in upon Chen Nian, and a new cycle of bullying begins.
Chen Nian makes the acquaintance of Xiao Bei, a boy of about her age who is a street thug and petty criminal. Eventually Xiao Bei becomes her boyfriend and bodyguard, following her to and from school. But Xiao Bei gets arrested, and the bullies attack Chen Nian again—and then events take a tragic turn.
Tropes:
- Accidental Murder: Wei Lai is following Chen Nian, pestering her. In a fit of temper Chen Nian shoves her—and Wei Lai goes tumbling down a flight of stairs and dies.
- Alpha Bitch: Wei Lai, pretty much straight out of central casting. Pretty, popular, and a vicious bully, leader of a gang of bullies that drive Hu Xiaodie to suicide and then start relentlessly harassing Chen Nian.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Played for Drama. Chen Nian's mother deals in stolen goods, selling among other things off-brand face masks that cause allergic reactions. She's notorious enough that people put up fliers in the neighborhood identifying her as a con artist, and she has to flee. The kids at school find out about this which just makes things worse for Chen Nian.
- Book Ends: The opening scene has Chen Nian as a student in English class, as the teacher gives a lesson on the fine distinction in English between "was" and "used to be". The closing scene has Chen Nian, now a teacher, giving the exact same lesson, even with the same example.
- Bully Brutality: Wei Lai and her minions push Chen Nian down a flight of stairs; Chen Nian escapes with bruises. Later they assault her, tearing her clothes into tatters and hacking her hair off.
- Dead-Hand Shot: How Wei Lai's body is revealed, as an excavator digs earth from a mudslide.
- Distant Finale: The last scenes skip forward a few years to show Chen Nian out of jail and working as a teacher, and still being guarded by Xiao Bei.
- Due to the Dead: As all the other students are gawking at Hu Xiaodie's body in the courtyard (she jumped off a high floor), Chen Nian steps out of the crowd and covers Hu's body with a jacket. This is what makes her Wei Lai's next target.
- Flashback
- A flashback shows Hu Xiaodie coming in to the classroom, finding her seat filled with a puddle of blood, and forced to sit on it. The same then happens to Chen Nian.
- A flashback late in the film reveals how Wei Lai died: an impatient Chen Nian shoved Wei Lai after Wei Lai wouldn't stop bothering her, and Wei Lai fell down several flights of stairs to her death.
- Gang of Bullies: Wei Lai is the head of 3-4 bullying girls that chase after Chen Nian as a pack.
- Hit Me, Dammit!: Wei Lai, desperate to talk Chen Nian into not reporting her to the cops, begs "Hit me! Slap me!"
- Match Cut:
- A proctor pulls a string, breaking the seal on the entrance exam—cut to an excavator, digging mud from a landslide. (The excavator uncovers Wei Lai's body.)
- Chen Nian puts a pen down on her desk while taking the test: cut to Xiao Bei slapping a pack of cigarettes down on a convenience store counter.
- Meet Cute: For a given variety of "cute". Chen Nian sees Xiao Bei being beaten in the street by some other thugs. She intercedes, and the other thugs force her to "kiss" him. The scene is ugly, but soon after they have formed a bond.
- My Greatest Failure: Chen Nian admits to Xiao Bei that Hu came to her for help with the bullies, but she ignored Hu, not wishing to become a target.
- Shameful Strip: The bullies attack Chen Nian and, after hacking off her hair, tear her clothes off. Careful camera angles hide most of this but one oblique shot makes clear that she was stripped down to bra and panties.
- The Sociopath: Wei Lai. Lao Yang, a detective, is interrogating Wei Lai after Chen Nian finally reported the bullies to the cops. When Lao Yang says "Don't you feel even a tiny bit of remorse?" about Hu's suicide, Wei Lai smirks and says that it's better that Hu died because now her parents can sue and get a fat settlement.
- Teens Are Monsters: Wei Lai and her Gang of Bullies, physically assaulting Chen Nian, chasing her like dogs after a rabbit. When Lao Yang expresses wonderment to his colleague Wang Li about the viciousness of the bullies, Wang Li matter-of-factly repliles "Empathy only comes with age."
- Time-Passes Montage: A couple of montages of Xiao Bei escorting Chen Nian to school, their various activities (her studying, him in petty crime), and shots of the two of them spending time together, riding around on his motorcycle.
- Toplessness from the Back: A rare male example, as Chen Nian peeks through a curtain and looks at Xiao Bei stripping off his shirt after he gets beaten up again. It's implied that they become lovers after this (at least, they start sharing a bed).
- Traumatic Haircut: When Wei Lai and her gang finally corner Chen Nian in Xiao Bei's absence, they hack off her hair.
