Better Luck Tomorrow

Ben Manibag and Virgil Hu are stereotypical overachieving Asian-Americans whose singular goal is to gain acceptance into highly prestigious Ivy League universities. Ben engages in perfectionistic pursuits including learning a new SAT word daily, and trying to best Calvin Murphy's record for free-throw shooting percentage. Ben reveals that his perfectionism cloaks another side of his life, including toilet-papering houses with Virgil and other petty crimes including the theft and return of computer equipment with Virgil and his cousin Han to earn easy money. Ben is involved in many school clubs, mainly to pad his college application. He makes the basketball team, though he ends up receiving only token playing time. At the same time, Ben develops a crush on his new lab partner, Stephanie Vandergosh, a girl of Asian descent adopted by a white family.

After meeting Daric Loo, senior valedictorian and president of nearly every student club, Ben becomes part of the school-wide cheat sheet operation Daric runs. Daric pays Jesus, another student, to steal the tests from the school office, and Ben makes cheat sheets from them which are then sold off to students. Ben also brings in Virgil and Han into the operation, and the four of them make a small fortune. Meanwhile, Ben has fallen for Stephanie. He discovers that her boyfriend, Steve Choe, seems to take her for granted. Steve discovers Ben's crush and offers to let him take her to the Winter Formal.

As a member of the Academic Decathlon team with Daric, Virgil and Han, the team practices at Daric's house with the practices devolving into drinking parties. After Daric mistakenly thinks he is going on a date with Stephanie, the group gets intoxicated and arrives at a party, where they are accosted by a football player who mocks them. A fight results in Daric pulling out a gun, stopping the fight. At school the following Monday, news of the fight spreads around school and the group's notoriety increases. They gradually expand into more dangerous scams, such as the theft of computer parts from the school and eventually selling drugs. They become users themselves, with Ben developing a heavy cocaine habit. Ben feels increasingly conflicted as he feels stifled by the expectations that others have of him. On his birthday, he wakes up with a nosebleed as a result of his cocaine use, which scares him into changing his life. He tells the group that he wants to quit. Daric agrees with him, adding that their operation has become a full-time job. Daric presents a gun from the three of them to Ben for his birthday.

Virgil takes over the lead of the operation, but is quickly exposed thanks to his carelessness and bragging. Han is forced to take the blame for the cheat sheet operation and is suspended, but not before beating up Virgil. Ben resumes his academic and extracurricular pursuits. He also begins spending more time with Stephanie, who reveals a wild side of her own when she gives him a CD that she shoplifted. He eventually asks Stephanie to the formal, to which she agrees. During a trip to the Academic Decathlon championships in Las Vegas, Daric hires a prostitute for the guys, with Ben losing his virginity in the process. During his turn, Virgil pulls a gun on the prostitute and she storms off, leading to a fight between Virgil and Han in which Virgil threatens Han with his gun. Despite the turmoil, the team wins the competition the next day.

Ben and Stephanie attend the winter formal together and cultivate their friendship. The situation is made clear to Ben when Steve is seen outside of the formal, waiting to take Stephanie home. Steve meets Ben and tells him that he has information on a possible score. The group is stunned when Steve wants them to rob his parents' house. When pressed for his motive, he calls it a 'wake-up call' for his parents. Ben and Han are against the plan, but Daric convinces them to instead give Steve a 'wake-up call', saying that Steve thinks he's better than them and this would be the perfect opportunity to teach him a lesson. They agree to Steve's plan and practice constantly, even agreeing to purchase a gun for Steve.

On New Year's Eve, the four meet Steve at Jesus' house under the pretense of robbing Steve's parents' house, but Daric, Virgil and Han begin attacking Steve instead while Ben keeps watch outside. In the ensuing struggle Steve gets Virgil's gun and it goes off. Ben runs in and, seeing the gun in Steve's hand, beats Steve to death with a baseball bat. The group convinces Jesus to agree to bury the body in his backyard for $300. Steve begins to twitch, revealing he's still alive, but Daric suffocates Steve with a gasoline-soaked rag while a tearful Virgil holds his arms back. Afterwards, the four go to a New Year's Eve party, where Ben and Stephanie kiss at midnight.

The next day, while cleaning up the aftermath of the murder, Ben and Virgil hear Steve's phone going off under the ground in Jesus's backyard. They dig it up, revealing it was a call from Stephanie, and Ben takes the phone. Ben debates on whether to report Steve's murder to the police. The guilt over Steve's murder is too much for Virgil, who attempts to commit suicide, failing but suffering potential brain damage. At the hospital, Daric makes a flippant remark about Virgil's injuries that angers Han. Daric expresses concern about Han or Virgil revealing their secret, but Ben simply resolves to do nothing and walks away.

When the yearbook pictures are taken at the end Han is shown with a shaved head indicating his cousin Virgil passed away. Separated from the group, Ben is alone at school. He encounters Stephanie one day on the way home. She asks him whether he has seen Steve lately, and expresses some concern that he has not called. They kiss, implying the resumption of their relationship. Ben's voice-over tells the audience that he has no idea about what the future holds, but all he knows is that there is no turning back.

• Parry Shen as Ben Manibag, a straight-A student who commits petty crimes to express himself in other ways
• Jason Tobin as Virgil Hu, Ben's friend since the fourth grade
• Sung Kang as Han Lue, Virgil's cousin
• Roger Fan as Daric Loo, the violent, self-centered, senior class valedictorian
• John Cho as Steve Choe, Stephanie's boyfriend
• Karin Anna Cheung as Stephanie Vandergosh
• Jerry Mathers as The Biology Teacher

Justin Lin said that the title "Better Luck Tomorrow" refers to how the film explores "the whole youth culture of today, specifically Asian-American, but also just the general mentality of teenagers today. I mean, I work with teenagers, I grew up in the 80s, and already it's very different, the mentality. You go to suburbia, you look at upper-middle-class-kids, and through the media they've literally adopted an urban-gangsta-mentality."[9]

Originally the film was going to be shot in digital-video, but within two weeks, after Fujifilm and later Kodak proposed deals with the director, the filming switched to 35 mm.[9]

Sung Kang had originally wanted to play Ben Manibag.[10]

Lin's original investors had wanted the entire cast to be caucasian. Lin objected and continued to fund the project with his credit cards. After those funds were depleted and as production was about to be canceled, Kang brought in $50,000 through Joan Huang of Cherry Sky Films, whom was a frequent patron of the korean barbecue restaurant where Kang worked at. Lin also brought in an additional $10,000 from artist MC Hammer, whom he had met while working at the Japanese American National Museum.[10]

Director Justin Lin later directed multiple films in the Fast & Furious franchise, with Sung Kang reprising his role as Han. The director and actor have both stated in interviews that they consider this to be the same character as the one in Better Luck Tomorrow, with that film serving as the character's origin story.[7]

Further reading

• Official website
• Better Luck Tomorrow on IMDb
• Better Luck Tomorrow at AllMovie
• Better Luck Tomorrow at Box Office Mojo
• Better Luck Tomorrow at Rotten Tomatoes