Film Preview: Better Days (2019)

Page Revisions:

(June 23, 2019) Original
(November 3, 2019) New Release Date (changed from 6/27/19)
(November 10, 2019) New Trailer (#2)

Release Date:

November 8, 2019

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “When it is time for the Chinese gaokao, the entire country comes to a standstill. For nearly ten million high school students, this two-day national college entrance exam will determine where and if they get to study. It is not uncommon for the fates of entire families to hinge on the results. Like so many others, Nian has been single-mindedly preparing for the exam, at the exclusion of everything else and all alone. A classmate has committed suicide and she has become the target of relentless bullying. Meanwhile, fate brings her together with small-time criminal Bei and the two of them seal a pact. Derek Kwok-cheung Tsang’s intense melodramatic thriller paints a bleak picture of an oppressive society, in the guise of a gripping fairy-tale love story.”

Poster Rating: C+

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Review: Symbolic in the confines of the film, but as a standalone piece of advertising, it isn’t terribly compelling.

Trailer Rating: C+ / C

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Review: (#1) The narrative struggles to reveal itself in this trailer that works more towards establishing the meekness and downtrodden nature of the main character rather than expressing to the viewer what they should expect from her attempt to rise past that trauma.

(#2) The purpose of a second trailer is either to reveal more about the film because the first design was a teaser or to improve upon the prior taking into consideration its weaknesses. This trailer does neither and ultimately makes the film look confusing and unappealing.