Angst Meets Opulence in Better Luck Tomorrow

Too smart for their own good. Better Luck Tomorrow (2003)

By C.A. Ramirez

This article originally appeared on Medium.com (9/13/2021).

What happens when high-achieving teens with the world at their fingertips decide to go gangsta?

Better Luck Tomorrow follows a group of overachieving Asian friends that have become so bored with the minutiae of academic dominance, they find themselves diving head first into a world of criminal activity for a good time. I wonder how much the rest of the country outside of Southern California would be able to relate to this overlooked film about the dizzying highs and abysmal lows that an opulent existence can provide Asian youths with too much time on their hands.

This movie is one of a handful that captures the angst and desperation that can plague “parachute kids” —  Asian children dropped off in the United States by their (usually) wealthy families. These parachute kids can be sent to live here in the States as old as seniors in high school or as young as elementary school. They are not entirely on their own, as there is usually a live-in relative, or nanny, that will stay in the house as well, but sometimes, they are left with similarly aged relatives vying for the same access to education. Unfortunately, this practice has lent itself to a certain amount of disaster as the parachute kids are often left with too much money and free time, which can, and has, led to the kind of tragedy that Better Luck Tomorrow delivers to its audience without pulling any punches.

Friendships are put to the test when friends push their limits.

There are several standout performances here that capture the out-of-control nature fueling young adults into the mayhem and murder of the criminal underworld. Ben (Perry Chen), Han (Sung Kang), and Virgil (Jason Tobin) are three best friends on the verge of graduating high school with honors. Law-abiding and respectful at the film’s onset, the three quickly devolve into baser versions of themselves when Steve (John Cho) approaches them with a scheme to rob his parents. The entire plan goes sideways when the three friends decide to rob Steve instead.

Throughout the movie, these honor students recoil from their academic world and carve out a niche for themselves in the criminal one. Their lives slowly turn upside down when they are forced to commit a murder, pitting the trio against each other whilst they leave a trail of destruction in their teenage angst fueled escapades. Justin Lin directed (and wrote, along with Ernesto Foronda and Fabian Marquez) an exceptional work of film that captures the incredibly frantic lives that can plague parachute kids here in the United States. Idle hands are the devil’s playground, but who those hands are connected to is seldom explored. Better Luck Tomorrow swallows you whole like a tornado and spits you out in pieces against its SoCal landscape, a modern tragedy that should not be missed.