Underplayed Gems

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)

Better Luck Tomorrow poster
Directed by
Justin Lin
Genre
drama film, teen film, crime film, coming-of-age film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 41m
Rated
R
Rating
6.2 of 10 from 105 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

A group of Asian American teenagers who are high achievers in school become bored with their straight-laced lives. They start committing small crimes for excitement, which slowly spirals out of control.

tensedarkly comicbleakcerebralrestlessstylishslow-burnunsettling

What happens

Better Luck Tomorrow is a 2002 American crime drama film directed, co-written, co-produced, and edited by Justin Lin. It follows a group of overachieving Asian American teenagers who become bored with their lives and enter a world of petty crime and material excess. The plot is loosely based on the 1992 murder of Stuart Tay. The film stars Parry Shen, Jason Tobin, Sung Kang, Roger Fan, Karin Anna Cheung and John Cho. Better Luck Tomorrow debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. It became the first film acquired by MTV Films, which worked with Paramount Pictures to release the film theatrically in the United States on April 11, 2003. It received generally positive reviews from critics, and developed a grassroots following among Asian American audiences. The film is notable for originating the character Han Lue (Sung Kang), later featured prominently in the Fast & Furious film series. Justin Lin has stated that Better Luck Tomorrow serves as Han's origin story, retroactively placing it in the Fast & Furious series continuity. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.