After his failure to obtain the promotion, Lay Zhang aka Sheng goes to Singapore for another job offer. After reaching Singapore, Sheng and the other fresh hires are attacked and then taken to a place where they are met by Eric Wang aka Lu who tells them that they now work for him and are taken on a “tour” in which they watch how the organization deceives unwilling suspects. Gina Jin who is a former model is one among the group who were also coaxed by others that are involved in online gambling fraud. A perfect example is Darren Wang who is one such prey. He gets addicted to betting and gets deep into debt ultimately taking him to measure that he ought not have done. Such shows do connect and hone in on Lu’s business enterprise and then a cat and mouse chase begins.
Online fraud is something that most people talk about nowadays. “No More Bets” shows just how delicate and complex a scam feels like and how easy it is to fit it into contemporary life. The premise would seem absurd if it weren’t for the sometimes too gripping real-life accounts we witness. Everyone in this movie becomes a pawn to some extent. The first footage depicts the stages of how the characters become ensnared. As for Sheng, he gets promised a ‘perfect’ way of life when he is ‘bumped’ to a higher position (the movie suggests that the candidate who gets hired has better connections). Anna loses her contract for someone photoshopping-over her picture which did not get her a fair amount of coercion. The even the primary villains of the film are also ensnared as the business they indulge in makes one paranoid and distrustful.
The mid-section is where the film captures its truest essence as we take a glimpse into the aftermath of an app gambling match. Taking a deeper look into the need for money we see relationships being tampered with as theft, lies and deceit come in to play alongside the growing desperation and eventual alienation. What hits closer to home is the other side as they call to emotion so that you feel forced to raise the stakes. For them, Tianzhi is just a message on the screen; not a human being. As an anti-gambling sentiment it is as effective as possible. However, this makes its audience slightly uneasy as they struggle understand the portrayal of those that were captured in the opening moments. On one hand, Sheng is portrayed in such a way that he is appear to be highly principled (he repulsively pushes Tianzhi, tries to escape). But what about the rest? It appears they were less interested in reaching home and instead were keen to make a buck or two! The subject of greed therefore cuts both ways. They become uninterested in the suffering and abuse of others and only aim for self gain.
Conversely, the “lesser” workers can be seen as more imprisoned than the rest, despite their roles being similar but are placed in an even more ornate prison.
No More Bets has however one of its flaws, which comes in the form of the quite abrupt transition towards the case investigation during the climax. In all honesty, this has been a character oriented piece but appears to recall the fact that there is a plot that needs to be resolved. It’s still effective but leaves you with a feeling that someone pressed the fast forward button. One scene in particular is remarkable. The Police chief speaking to the occupation, saying that these crimes should be erased from history. This is a political speech in the spirit of how it should be remembered that this is a Chinese movie and the villains will definitely be punished. And this together with the Dalian conference, which serves as the beginning of the end.
The characterization is on point. Darren Wang is remarkable as he portrays a slow journey downwards where there is no redemption, and the craving to rob the ones close to him begins to creep in. It’s a devastating moment and makes the point more stronger. Eric Wang as Lu is even better as he gets an interesting character to essay. Yes, he’s a bad guy but in spite of the paranoia and tussle for suspicion he is protective of Sheng and relishes the party with his “business partners”. In such cases, when his behaviors are more aggressive, it’s more surprising as a results. It’s not hard to see why he has the ability to control everyone so completely.
Shen Ao’s direction flows evenly and attractively, coupled with tight editing that properly paces the film’s progression. This implies that aside some moments where the writing seems to be too preachy (and censors would need to be satisfied), the movie doesn’t feel disrupted by the moral behind it. Now, when considering the character Sheng and the role he plays in the narrative, we can conclude that the film isn’t built around his pity: he isn’t the most admirable of characters yes, but he’s never portrayed in such a light. Both Sheng and Anna are victims too, thus revealing their shortcomings serves the purpose of exposing us to the origin of this story.
“At it’s core” this is a message movie. It is designed for the simple purpose of conveying how gambling especially via the internet is awry and should be avoided. It does not shy away from the negatives of the topic but sure is overstepping the boundaries sometimes in the points being made. Consistently ends up being way too close to glamourizing the people behind those points but on the whole, the sound and clean plot saves the cashew and nut montage. All in all, due to its non cynical approach to cyberspace the drama is passable. The strong focus and perfect’s direction raised the film significantly higher than the desire of making of the week. As a result, today we were given a well-rehearsed promotional video that caused reflection.
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