China’s Movie of the Summer Is a Dark Satire on Tiger Parents
Comedy ‘Successor’ has touched a nerve in China with its tale of ambitious, controlling parents that turn their son’s life into a version of ‘The Truman Show.’
The highly anticipated dark comedy “Successor” is rapidly emerging as one of China’s biggest movies of the year, becoming the first film of the summer to gross over 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in a single day on Saturday.
Co-starring Shen Teng and Ma Li — the comedic duo behind previous smash hits “Goodbye, Mr. Loser” (2015) and “Hello, Mr. Billionaire” (2018) — the movie was always likely to have a big opening.
“Successor” took over 200 million yuan at the weekend via pre-screenings alone, with the movie set for a full release on Tuesday. Including pre-sales and pre-screenings, total ticket sales as of Tuesday afternoon have already reached 598 million yuan.
But the film has also touched a nerve in China with its tale of wealthy, controlling “tiger parents” that fuses elements of the hit HBO show “Succession” with the 1998 comedy feature “The Truman Show.”
Shen and Ma play a high-powered couple that own a successful business and are determined to groom their son to take over the company. Worried that he will turn into a useless rich kid, they decide to raise him in something resembling poverty — but with a twist.
The family move into a ramshackle courtyard home and live what appears to be a simple rural life. But in the background, the parents are secretly engineering every aspect of their son’s childhood from a hidden underground control room.
The couple hires a series of top educators to act as extras in their strange reality show. Their friendly neighbors are really physics and Chinese teachers; the owners of a nearby wet market are math teachers. Even the son’s grandmother is a renowned tutor who is pretending to be paraplegic to teach the child to observe filial piety.
Early reviews of the film have been mostly positive, with “Successor” earning a solid average rating of 7.5 on the social platform Douban. Commenters have praised Shen and Ma’s performances and the gag-filled script in particular.
“Shen Teng and Ma Li playing an exquisitely poor couple really have 100% compatibility,” one Douban user wrote. “So adorable.”
But the movie’s satire on what many in China refer to as “Chinese-style education” — a controlling approach to parenting intended to give children a head-start in a highly competitive society — has also provoked some pushback.
On Chinese social media, many users complained that the criticism of tiger parents was too heavy-handed and made the film “less funny.” Some even said they felt they were “being lectured” while watching the movie.
The parents’ actions in “Successor” are often highly coercive. When the son shows some talent and passion for running, his father is worried that he will want to pursue an athletic, rather than business, career.
So he conspires to kill this idea in the bud. He secretly rubs anesthetic gel into the child’s leg, then rushes the son to a fake hospital, where a hired doctor tells the child he is injured and can never be a professional athlete.
But, of course, the couple’s lies catch up with them eventually. The movie comes to a climax as the son discovers the truth of his parents’ deception on the day he is due to take the gaokao, China’s all-important college entrance examinations.
When the son confronts his parents, the father is unapologetic. “What do you have to feel aggrieved about? Do you think it was us who controlled your life? You also controlled our lives,” he tells the stricken child.
On Douban, users noted the dark tone and allusions to “The Truman Show.” “Almost all the jokes are based on deceiving the child. They killed Ma Jiye (the son),” one user wrote. “It’s like a parenting version of ‘The Truman Show.’ Good comedies often have a tragic core, but this one has a horror core,” another commented.
Some reviewers also criticized the film’s ending as feeling too rushed. After the confrontation, the son appears to simply accept his past and continue with his life. He later graduates with a high gaokao score and attends a sports college. In a final skit after the credits, the couple jokingly mention wanting another kid.
Yet, “Successor” looks set to match the success of Shen and Ma’s previous hits, which took 1.4 billion yuan and 2.5 billion yuan at the box office. Zeng Yuli, an influential movie commentator, said that Shen and Ma’s latest work struck a good balance between social commentary and commercial appeal.
“It allows the majority of the audience to laugh throughout … and leaves people with a sense of dread upon further reflection,” Zeng wrote. “It carries certain social issues, provides discussion points, and has the potential to serve as social currency.”
The film is also providing a welcome shot in the arm for China’s film industry after a slow start to the crucial summer holiday season. In June, the top three summer releases grossed 359 million yuan, 196 million yuan, and 186 million yuan, respectively. This was far off the figures set by last year’s summer smash “Lost in the Stars,” which took over 1.7 billion yuan in just nine days.
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