Jackson Yee Photo: Li Hao/GT

A group of students smile as they pose for graduation photos. A girl with a crew cut cries from pain. Some young boys get caught up in a street fight, one whom tells the crying girl, "You protect the world, I protect you." These are some of the scenes from China's new box-office hit Better Days.

The domestic youth drama from Derek Tsang from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has sparked some much-needed dialogue on several topics such as campus violence, parent-child relationships, the mental health of high school students under pressure from the gaokao (national college entrance examinations). 

The highly anticipated film hit Chinese mainland theaters on Friday, becoming an immediate hit. By Sunday, its third day in the mainland, the film had grossed more than 500 million yuan ($70.76 million).   

"I like this character very much, because Xiaobei's inner world and his appearance were different," said Jackson Yee, a member of China's hit boy band TFBoys, during an exclusive interview with the Global Times on Thursday while talking about his debut performance on the silver screen.  

Under pressure

The female lead of the film, Chen Nian, is portrayed by award-winning actress Zhou Dongyu, who rose to fame by starring in Zhang Yimou's film Under the Hawthorn Tree. After her single mom goes into hiding to avoid people she owes money to, Chen is left to prepare for the gaokao on her own. In addition to the pressure the exam brings, she also must deal with the constant bullying from classmates. She ends up seeking protection and comfort from Yee's character, a troubled young man named Liu Beishan, nicknamed Xiaobei, who dropped out of school at 13. 

"He [Xiaobei] is actually full of tenderness inside. That's why he chooses to protect Chen Nian. He may appear to be very rebellious, because he is trying to protect the tenderness in his heart and himself," Yee said. 

The 18-year-old star, who has 79 million followers on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, rose to fame after the three-member boy band TFBoys made its debut in 2013. 

Since then, Yee has been seen by the public as a clean-cut talented teen star who appears a bit sweet and shy. 

In the film, even his most diehard fans may find it difficult to recognize the young star as he appears with long, messy hair and a face covered with bruises and blood.  

According to media reports, given such a sharp contrast between Yee's public image and the character, he did not pass the initial auditions for the role. However, after the actor who was originally picked turned down the part, Yee managed to push for a second audition as he really wanted the part. 

"I may have a tiny bit of rebelliousness inside me, so I'm a bit like Xiaobei," Yee said, noting that this rebellious side is sometimes expressed through his music and dancing. 

Right to the heart

"There was a montage in the movie that shows the time Xiaobei and Chen Nian spent together, which was relatively sweet. Other than that, [the tone of movie] was cold and heavy. There was a scene in which [Chen] was feeling the strong pressure of the gaokao and I was not going to school. So we put sheets over ourselves [and pretended to be ghosts] to scare people," Yee said, when asked about which scene in the film impressed him the most. 

Audiences seem to agree with Yee, in that the dark nature of the film is a major highlight. 

"This is not the first time that we have seen a movie about campus bullying, and surely not the first time we have watched a domestic-made youth drama. So why do some works come across as pretentious while other works make audiences empathize with the characters? The sadness and hopelessness experienced by Chen Nian, the seeming carelessness and detailed thoughtfulness of Xiaobei, the clips of the two having fun together was so short that it seemed like stolen time, the director captured all these details and spoke directly to audiences' hearts," writes one review on Chinese media review site Douban, where the film as an 8.5/10.

Better days ahead

The success of the film is a great start for Yee's acting career. 

"I hope to have another great work like Better Days," he said, when asked about his goals for next year. Meanwhile, as indicated in the end of the film, there is a better future for the youth besides Yee.

At the end of the film, there is a brief video about the relevant laws and policies that the government has carried out concerning issues such as campus violence and protection of minors, as well as cases in which people spoke out when facing campus bullying. Yee also appears in the video and calls for people to take action against bullying. 

"When everyone contributes, we can then protect the youth, we can protect the world." 
Newspaper headline: Dramatic turn