BEFORE THE BRIGHT DAY

From the perspective of a teenager, this story explores the profound impact of the 1996 missile crisis and Taiwan’s first direct presidential election on both society and individual lives.
以少年的視角，呈現1996年飛彈危機與第一次總統直選，對於臺灣社會與個人生命的深刻影響。

Chou is placed in the “losers” B-class by his teacher, while the girl he likes, Min, is in the prestigious A-class. Tired of his pale and uneventful youth, Chou sees Button, a small gang leader, as the man he aspires to become. In 1996, during the Taiwan Strait Crisis, his father’s investments took a hit, and his mother’s stock trading incurred losses. The gloomy atmosphere at home made his younger brother Bin’s piano practice sound especially dispirited. Falling in with Button’s gang, Chou experiences a series of setbacks: Button leaves for military service, gets framed by his peers, Min emigrates out of fear of war, and their teacher forces Chou to drop out after catching him smoking. What kind of future awaits him?
小洲被老師分到「廢物」B段班，而他喜歡的小敏則在優秀的A段班。小洲厭倦蒼白青春，他將小幫派首領扣子視為心中憧憬的形象。1996年台海危機，父母投資受到影響，家裡低氣壓使弟弟小斌的練琴聲聽起來格外沮喪。而經歷扣子去當兵、被同儕誣陷、小敏移民的小洲，因為偷抽菸被老師逼著退學，他的未來會是什麼模樣？