9.0
The Staff

At nearly four hours long, A Brighter Summer Day is a sprawling, beautifully composed film that follows young Xiao Si’r and his eventual entanglements in nearly everything, from love to youth gangs to politics. While parts of the story, particularly its bone-chilling climax, are based on true events, the film is largely reconstructed from Edward Yang’s memories of the era he grew up in. As a result, the visuals feel crisp and true, tinged with just the right amount of nostalgia to balance the grittiness of its realism. 

As coming-of-age films go, A Brighter Summer Day is certainly more on the tragic side. It’s also seminal in its specificity and depth—an absolute must-watch for any and all filmgoers. 

1. You can watch
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
on
CRITERION CHANNEL

Price:
 $10.99 per month
Device availability:
 Amazon Fire TV, Android, Apple TV, iOS, Roku, Samsung TV, Xbox

Criterion Channel is a curated movie-streaming service that offers ad-free and on-demand access to films from The Criterion Collection in HD. It is currently only available in the US and Canada. The subscription costs $10.99 per month or $99.99 per year. Like Netflix, the Criterion Channel also offers a physical rental service. The number of movies you can rent each month, for a flat monthly rate, depends on how quickly you can return them. You don’t need to subscribe to The Criterion Channel to buy or rent physical media on DVD and Blu-ray, but subscribers may get discounts.

2. You can watch
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
on
VUDU

Device availability:
 Amazon Fire TV, Android, Chromecast, iOS, LG Smart TV, Playsation, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, TiVo, Vizio, Xbox, Xfinity Flex
Vudu is an on-demand streaming service that allows users to rent or purchase more than 200,000 new releases. Founded in 2007, it's one of the first companies to offer digital films in HD. Vudu's main strength is its ease of access and jam-packed catalog of movies and TV shows, but it also boasts free content, which they run on ads. In 2020, media and ticketing firm Fandango acquired Vudu and merged both companies' streamers into one. They decided to keep the Vudu name because of its vast and loyal customer base.

3. You can rent
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
on
AMAZON
for $2.99

4. You can rent
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
on
ITUNES
for $3.99

5. You can rent
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
on
PLAY
for $2.99

6. You can watch
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
on
YOUTUBE

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