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Int’l Critics Line: Todd McCarthy On Hong Kong’s Oscar-Shortlisted ‘Better Days’
Final exams have rarely taken a heavier toll than they do in Better Days, an arresting teen-oriented story that cranks Chinese scholastic competitiveness into the realm of murderous melodrama. A major success in China, where it grossed over $220M in the wake of its November 2019 release, Chinese-born, Canadian-raised director Derek Tsang’s take on the YA novel source, In His Youth, In Her Beauty, by Jiu Yuexi, elevates a distressing tale of lethal teen behavior into an involving account of youthful malice and resilience. Widely available on various broadcast sites, the Hong Kong film has been shortlisted for this year’s International Feature Oscar race.
