"No More Bets" is actually a documentary-style movie based on real-life events. Think Oppenheimer. It presents a uniquely entertaining film revolving around online betting scams.
The greatest strength of this movie lies in its originality. It offers us a glimpse into the unsettling world of atrocities committed in online betting scams. We were quickly introduced to the modus operandi of how syndicates lure victims to become forced labour & how victims suffer various hardships once they're trapped in it.
"No More Bets" creates the right amount of suspense to keep viewers at the edge of their seats. You'd always want to know what happens next. The idea to showcase the film from the different perspectives of those involved in online betting scams, such as the advertisement spammer, the dealer, the gambler, the gambler's family, the enforcement officer, was a great one. The main protagonists, Pan Sheng (by Lay Zhang) and Liang Anna (by Gina Jin) were pretty decent. The supporting cast of Darren Wang & Sheren Tang were at their usual high standards. But the truly outstanding performance was from Manager Lu (by Eric Wang), the fiendish leader of the online betting scam.
Perhaps the film, being a Chinese film, has to adhere to strict censorship standards in China, hence some scenes had to be toned-down. (the violent & sexual ones) Although toned-down, the film hints that, in real-life, the forced labour of online betting scams suffer much worse than those in the movie.
On another note, "No More Bets" is not flawless. It clearly lifted one scene from "Wolf of Wall Street". (you'll know it when you see it). Cantonese is abruptly spoken in certain scenes, and what made it worse was the character speaking it was not fluent in Cantonese at all. (Note: Cantonese & Mandarin are slightly different) Some characters' dialogue seemed like it was from an anti-scam campaign instead of a film. The scene transition & camera angles could've been better.
In a nutshell, "No More Bets" is a one-of-a-kind film that is worth your time. It stays focused to its core plot of online betting scams' operations. Its central message of advising viewers against participating in illegal online betting, and to beware of online investments is the main takeaway. (for most of them are scams anyway). This could be an iconic classic for the years to come.
