timeless-98678

The movie was unexpectedly fun starting from all the references related to the actual Barbie doll to the costumes and till even the Barbie world itself. Overall I think there is a good balance between satire and sincerity, crammed with impeccable attention to details. Even tough as a watcher I expected Barbie to be the star of the show, in many moments Ken was actually such a fun scene-stealer that at one point I felt the movie should truly be Barbie and Ken.

I could totally agree to the fact that the movie is a riotous, candy colored feminist fable and it's true that Barbie does many of the things we've been promised: there is much mocking and loving of Barbie, and plenty of costumes but none of those things make it subversive. From my point of view it's a movie that enormously pleased with itself but even tough it's very pretty it's not that very deep.

This movie really offers an unprecedented look into the complex web of the new type of overseas telecommunications and cyber fraud. The plot draws inspiration from real fraud cases across China, featuring realistic portrayals of the industry's inner workings. I was impressed by Director Shen Ao who revealed that he studied over 10,000 cases and interviewed a variety of people, from victims to police officers, to gain inspiration for the movie and also sought help from police and the anti-fraud center to collect information related to such online scams over the past three years.

Considering the amount of information gathered and people involved, I think the plot successfully managed to unfold from the perspectives of the criminals, the police and especially the victims. Some scenes seemed indeed quite cruel but it was stated the actual cases are even more extreme and what really went on was a hundred or a thousand times darker, crueler, and more brutal this movie came across as very realistic and I think overall the actors did a really great job.

I can understand now why the movie is considered so far a major success and since it was released amid widespread debate around overseas cyber fraud on social media, where dozens of people shared their experiences of being tricked by lucrative job offers, I believe "No More Bets" will hold a profound significance by educating people and by preventing others from being scammed.