I’m someone who enjoys surreal, twisted cinema, but even I have my limits, and I think I may have just found the one film that has managed to completely bewilder me, the animated dark comedy Have a Nice Day (Chinese:  大世界), perhaps the most polarizing film I have seen this year. In all honesty, I am not entirely sure what Have a Nice Day is, and if it even counts as a film because usually, films need to make some iota of sense and be somewhat coherent, which Have a Nice Day certainly is not. It is an odd, absurd and utterly brilliant crime comedy that is as perverse as it is entertaining, and while it may not be particularly understandable on a purely human level, and moves towards the realm of the insanely absurd, it is still a fascinating film, and provides director and animator Liu Jian the necessary showcase for his unique talents, and makes a case for him as one of the most audacious young filmmakers working today. I cannot say that I thoroughly understood Have a Nice Day, nor did I find it a film that was particularly pleasant and logical, but I did massively enjoy it, as it pandered to my more penchant for the more absurd, and if there is something that works in the favour of this film, it is that it is extremely original and unquestionably audacious.

Have a Nice Day is…odd. It has something resembling a central story, whereby a young man named Xiao Zhang works as a driver for a violent gang and decides to take a huge risk and steal a bag of money that is supposed to be delivered to the ruthless leader of the syndicate, the ominously-named Uncle Liu. His motivations become clear eventually: he hopes to take his girlfriend to South Korea to fix her botched plastic surgery, which has left her reclusive and insecure. Of course, this action is not without consequences, as Xiao Zhang is soon pursued by a variety of people, all of which have their sights set on the bag of money, including a nearly-married middle-aged couple who see the arrival of this fortune as a way out of their banal existence, a sinister ‘fixer’ named Mr. Skinny who is relentlessly violent and willing to do anything to appease those in command and some of Xiao Zhang’s relatives who try to convince him to avoid getting himself into trouble. Along the way, these characters interact in strange and wonderful ways, having some profoundly fascinating conversations, as well as engaging in some almost brutal violence against each other in the quest to acquire the money that actually does not belong to anyone in particular, yet everyone feels entitled to make it their own. This is the most straightforward synopsis that can be derived from this film, but believe me when I say it becomes increasingly more absurd, with interludes into fantasy sequences, red herrings scattered throughout and a genuine sense of surreal dark comedy that feels like the perverted love-child of Pulp Fiction and Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Looking at what Have a Nice Day tries to convey is an interesting exercise, and much of what has been written about this film points towards very similar themes, with most writers being in agreement that this film is a subversive commentary on society through the lens of a traditional crime film, with the themes it focuses on being made remarkably sardonic through the fact that this film is animated. In many ways, Have a Nice Day has the structure of a conventional crime dark comedy, with similar progression – our protagonist (or is Xiao Zhang an anti-hero?) makes a bold and daring move, for reasons that are later made clear, while being pursued by several different characters, all with their own intentions, whether it be to acquire what our main character is holding onto, or to retrieve Xiao himself. Have a Nice Day is a terrific film, because it fits well-within many of the better crime thrillers, being an acidic but entertaining comedy with some hideously fascinating twists and turns that make it an unpredictable, surreal experience. It almost parodies pre-existing works as much as it is inspired by them, and the Liu Jian made his admiration for more traditional films of this ilk clear, and he smartly subverts all expectations, with the story certainly be reminiscent of preceding films, but the execution being entirely unique, and regardless of what one thinks about this film, Have a Nice Day cannot be accused of being unoriginal, as there are several moments of unmitigated genius scattered throughout the film, many of which are wholly unexpected and utterly daring.

However, Have a Nice Day is more than just the sum of its parts, and it makes some poignant statements that transcend the devilishly fun execution, and it is possible to see this film as more than just an animated crime comedy, and rather an uncanny, unsettling portrait of a modern society, where everything is falling apart. Have a Nice Day is a film about decay, set in a world where nothing works, and where society is slowly deteriorating around these characters, which is reflected in the characters, who also seem to be unable to function properly as well, where greed and corruption is the guiding force in the lives of all these characters. There is a particularly noteworthy instance whereby two characters discuss religion, debating whether God or Buddha is the more powerful and which one should be praised above the other, not being aware that the most powerful deity informing their actions is actually the earthly riches that they are pursuing with reckless haste. Have a Nice Day seems to be a disconcerting portrayal of consumer culture, whereby the social deity is money, with the suggestion that wealth can fix what is broken. This film is disturbingly bleak, with the concept that restoration is only possible through material possessions – the central conflict is caused by a failed attempt to fix something that was perceived as being broken, and the actions of all these characters are motivated by the depressing belief that money is the key to happiness. It is a well-worn adage, but one that takes center stage in Have a Nice Day, which is a bleak but deliriously sardonic look at consumer culture, and the idea that what is decaying can somehow be fixed through wealth, which is obviously acknowledged as absurd, but unfortunately inescapably ingrained within our culture.

Have a Nice Day also possesses a quality that could not have been executed with nearly as much deft brilliance if it had been live-action, and it is a story that is not typically the subject of animated films, but somehow it worked better in this format than it ever could have through a more traditional, less-arduous approach. Liu clearly was dedicated to this project, working in nearly every technical and creative aspect of this film, mainly as writer, director, and animator, and his hard work paid off in a film that is as fascinating in story and message as it is innovative in how it was conveyed. The animation is not perfect, and it may be slightly rigid at times, but it is extraordinarily detailed as well, with the visual representation of the decaying Chinese metropolis being brimming with small, almost inconsequential details that work towards the darkly comic but deeply unsettling nature of this film. It is an innovative film, and the style employed throughout is astonishing in its simplicity, and in the more surreal interludes, Liu uses other equally-innovative styles to convey the message – the challenge is decoding the filmmaker’s enigmatic intentions in these moments, and understanding the point that he is attempting to make in this inconceivably bold social satire.

Have a Nice Day doesn’t make too much sense. It is an absurd but hilariously dark critique of society and makes profoundly stark statements that are as scathing as they are terrifying. Liu is a filmmaker who certainly has an astonishing set of talents, balancing thoroughly meaningful storytelling with unconventionally-stunning animation that results in a film that I am still struggling to process, but the gloriously strange quality of this film works in its favour, and proves that some of the best animated stories are being told outside the major studios, providing evidence to the fact that simple execution and a resonant story and socially-conscious story can yield exceptional results. Have a Nice Day is not a particularly straightforward film, and its forays into the realm of the wildly preposterous can be unnerving, but it all works towards making this film one of the most original and audacious of the year, and something almost entirely unforgettable.