Jackson Yee Photo: IC

Better Days, a film about school bullying starring TFBoys member Jackson Yee or Yi Yangqianxi and award-winning Chinese actresses Zhou Dongyu, has earned more than 600 million yuan ($85 million) at the Chinese mainland box office as of Monday noon - its fourth day of screening. 

Accounting for more than 63 percent of total daily ticket sales in the Chinese mainland on Monday, the film, which tells the story of two teenagers fighting for a better life as they deal with school violence, has also earned high praise on Chinese social media for tackling important social issues as well as the actors' excellent performances. 

In the film, Yee plays Liu Beishan, a young punk who was abandoned by his parents and dropped out of school at 13. He meets high school student Chen Nian (Zhou) and tries to protect her from school violence. 

Liu tries to take the rap for Chen after she accidently kills a classmate who bullies her at school. However, Chen surrenders herself at last and is sentenced to four years in prison. 

The film was released amid heated discussion over a grisly juvenile crime in which a 13-year-old boy attempted to rape and then killed a 10-year-old girl in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province. 

Due to his age, the boy escaped criminal punishment and was instead sentenced to three years of rehabilitation and reeducation, The Beijing News reported on Saturday citing a Dalian police official.

The murder, as well as the resulting punishment, enraged many Chinese internet users, who called for relevant laws to be amended so as to lower the age of criminal responsibility in China.

Along with the controversy, China is in the process of revising laws that protect minors. New articles stressing the need to curb school bullying were deliberated as draft amendments to the law at the 14th session of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee on Saturday.

The film currently has an 8.5/10 on Chinese media review site Douban. 

Talking about why he chose this film for his debut work, Yee, the film's leading actor, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Thursday that he was attracted by the theme of school bullying. 

"Beyond the problem of school violence, the film also forthrightly reflects on the mental growth of youth," Yee said. 

"It was beyond my expectations," a moviegoer surnamed Xu who lives in Beijing told the Global Times on Monday. 

Another moviegoer surnamed Yu told the Global Times that the film made her reflect on her student days and made her wonder if she overlooked classmates who may have been suffering from bullying. 

"The performance of the two leading actors was so appealing that I could not help but empathize with them," Yu said. 

The film was directed by Derek Tsang from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.