On November 14, 'Billionaire in the Slums', a Chinese comedy about a billionaire who decides to raise his son in poverty, will reach domestic release. Why you shouldn't miss this box office mega-hit from China — in our review.

Ma Jie lives in a disadvantaged area of the city. His family's financial situation can be classified as "very difficult." Every day he travels several kilometers from home to school because there is no one and no means to give him a ride. But Jie has no idea that he is surrounded by professional actors everywhere, and guards are watching his every step. They are all involved in an educational experiment led by the boy's father (Shen Teng).

The slogan featured on the film's promotional materials, "'Serf' meets 'The Truman Show'", is not empty clickbait to attract an audience, but a fairly accurate observation by the distributors. 'Billionaire...' indeed at times painfully resembles both of these films, but still with the caveat that in tone it is much closer to the former.

However, while our 'Serf' was ironic about representatives of the golden youth with their detachment from the lives of ordinary people and thus slightly ventured into the territory of a comedy of manners, the Chinese new release is a pure comedy of situations. The film's characters constantly find themselves in terribly absurd situations, each time getting closer to being exposed.

Watching how the father and his subordinates get out of them is pure pleasure! It is always accompanied by the choice of non-trivial solutions, striking in their genius and absurdity at the same time, as well as extremely emotional, deliberately unrealistic performances.

'Billionaire in the Slums' is a rare example of a family comedy written not for children. Several factors point to this. Unlike Grisha (Miloš Biković) and Truman (Jim Carrey) from the aforementioned films, Ma Jie is not the central character of the story. The viewer spends much more time with his father Chong'an, whose role is excellently performed by the genre regular Shen Teng. He regularly utters pompous phrases about his difficult childhood (the conditions of which the experiment imitates) and his thorny path to success.

The film itself is in some sense a lesson to those adults who dream that their children will follow their path, completely repeating it or even reaching greater heights than themselves. At the same time, the film avoids open moralizing, despite such a blatant, straightforward metaphor of parental control.

But credit must be given to 'Billionaire in the Slums': the experiment here is also to some extent a treasure trove of pedagogical findings. For example, Ma Jie from time to time receives tasks from passersby and fate itself (which he begins to believe in), aimed at applying the knowledge gained at school in practice.

Life lessons have not been canceled either. Teaching his son financial literacy, responsibility for loved ones, and discipline, Chong'an often puts his son before a choice: to act correctly, guided by the interests of the family, or improperly, pursuing selfish goals. He does not encourage cunning and deception in his heir, although in essence he himself regularly resorts to them.

However, the viewer's sympathy gradually shifts to the side of young Jie. The fact is that such upbringing in extreme conditions has absolutely nothing to do with a difficult financial situation. The main characters only imitate belonging to socially vulnerable strata, but in reality they live it up. They strive to instill self-sufficiency in the boy, although they themselves cannot boast of it.

In the third act, the story makes a time jump ten years into the future, and this is perhaps the most controversial aspect of the film. On the one hand, the intensity of emotions and the degree of absurdity grow exponentially. Elements of black comedy even break through in places. The graying Chong'an goes to any lengths to maintain the legend, but he succeeds with varying success, because Jie is no longer a little boy who can be fed any nonsense.

But on the other hand, it is this time jump that destroys the previously harmonious dynamics of the work. Moreover, 135 minutes is an unjustifiably long runtime for a family comedy, even one as inventive in its intention to make the audience laugh.

Summing up all of the above, 'Billionaire in the Slums' is, although not perfect, an extremely entertaining genre novelty that systematically delights the viewer with wit and does not let them get bored.

Trailer: