A thoroughly depressing movie that abandons its anti-bullying topic halfway through and attempts a bittersweet ending.

A young Chinese girl, Chen Nian, is approaching the most important exams of her life, which are the only hope for escape from economic hardships for her and her mother, when her friend (?) commits suicide due to bullying. Chen becomes the new target of the bullies and reaches out for help from a boy who couldn't be more different than her. Ultimately, their relationship becomes more than just a practical one and is eventually put to the test as Chen is on the cusp of a better life.

I assumed going in that this would be a depressing movie due to the topic and boy was I right. It's not just the bullying either; Chen and Xiao's entire existence seems cruel. Chen is the only child of a single mother, who is unreliable and has buried them in debt. Creditors bang on the door, demanding to see the mother. Meanwhile, the enormity of the approaching exams cannot be overstated. As an American, it was difficult to comprehend just how much pressure these students were put under for these exams, which are portrayed as if the student's entire life rests on their performance. Xiao, on the other hand, has no hope of a better future, is alone and self-sufficient, and has frequent fights and run-ins with the law. There really is nothing positive about either of their lives.

Obviously, the bullying is front-and-center and I almost wonder if they went overboard with it. I know teenagers can be cruel, but my god, this isn't just run-of-the-mill embarrassment, harassment, and the occasional physical altercation. It's ruthless and veers into very illegal territory quite often. Frustratingly, the second half of the movie all but completely abandons this topic to become part crime thriller and part romance. Bullying is obviously an important topic with no easy solutions, which makes these movies intriguing for their perspective and how they choose to tackle it. But this one completely sidesteps this and, in the end, offers no perspective, nuance, or resolution whatsoever. The ending attempts a twist that's all too familiar and leaves its characters in a worse position, albeit a more peaceful one.

That's not to say there's nothing redeeming. Despite all of this, I found myself heavily invested, probably due to the excellent performances of the actors. Their relationship, emotions, and dialogue all felt very genuine. And I really have no complaints for the entire first half of the film. In short, I don't regret watching it but it was still a letdown, especially considering how depressing it was.

Edit: I later found out the novel this movie was based on is suspected of plagiarizing Keigo Hinashino's two novels "Journey Under the Midnight Sun" and "The Devotion of Suspect X". I've never read the two books so I'm not sure how similar the movie is to the two books.

-----------------------------

A bitter-sweet story about bullying at school. Story follows Nian Chen, a high school student preparing for her biggest exam so she could ultimately escape to the big city Beijing with her mum. We experience with Nian her struggles as she tries to survive her harsh school life being the bully's next targeted victim. Without help from any adults, Nian finds an unexpected friendship with a local gangster Xiaobei.

I found most characters and settings written quite realistically. While I might not be able to resonate with the actions of the characters, I was able to understand their motives and action (there are exceptions, especially the actions of the bully). Some events in the movie seemed too good to be true, and I would suspect this could be due to the movie seemingly being a promoting material for the newish anti-bullying laws in China (I.e. pre-credits), or complying to media laws in China. Sadly, the story went downhill in the second half, losing its focus from everything the first half of the movie tried to set up. The resolution seemed forced to me, with some actions of characters (especially the bully) not making sense. There were also characters that play important roles but were not explored properly.

All in all a good-looking movie with great acting and cinematography but lacking on the story side.