Yolo (movie review)

Many people think that Le Ying is a loser. She’s very overweight, still living with her parents, doesn’t have a proper job, and is a doormat in almost every relationship in her life. One day, she gets into a huge fight with her sister, and leaves home to seek an independent life. 

After a series of disappointments, she decides to train to become a boxer – even when everyone is laughing at her for even trying.

My thoughts

Some of the criticisms levelled at Yolo is that it’s not very funny.

Well, if you expect it to be a laugh-out-loud comedy, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

This movie is a character study of a woman who has spent most of her life pleasing or giving in to others and denying her true feelings and desires, in the faint hope that they would finally love her in return.

Somehow, subconsciously, she knew that this approach to life was the wrong one, but do not know how to live life another way. So, she mentally gives up on life … she overeats to comfort herself and doesn’t even bother to try better herself because all her efforts had been in vain before, so why bother?

When she endures a betrayal, she decides to change her life. However, because she did not change the way she approached life, she ended up in a worse place that she had been.

And this was the last straw. For the first time, she wanted to fight and not give up. Now the last three words is very crucial – it’s not about winning, it’s about not giving up on herself.

This movie beautifully shows you how she moves on from being a person who didn’t think she was important enough to fight for, to someone who who fights tooth and nail for herself – to do something that everyone said she could not.

That final battle in the ring was very important because she wanted not to just prove to herself that she could last till the end, but not give up on herself.

So, Yolo may not be the exciting comedic romp that some people want, nor does it follow the “ugly duckling becomes swan” trope, but it has an important message. If you live your life by cutting up pieces of yourself to please others in the tiny hope they will love you or appreciate you eventually, that’s the wrong approach.

Instead, always believe in yourself even if people say it’s impossible; never give up on yourself. In the end, you should not snuff out your desires or dreams so that others can live their dreams – it’s important for you to pursue yours too.

A beautiful movie, but you need to look deeper beyond the surface of “fat girl finally becomes pretty”.