The movie "Successor" and why China's richest want their kids to grow up poor

There is a long tradition of comedy movies tackling weighty societal issues, using humor to raise awareness about issues that might otherwise be too uncomfortable to confront directly.

A perfect such example was the 2006 movie Idiocracy which wrapped a critique of American anti-intellectualism, consumer culture, and the decline of critical thinking in such outrageous humor that audiences could laugh while being forced to confront uncomfortable truths about where society might be heading.

China has also long had this tradition of embedding serious social critique within comedy, and the 2024 movie “Successor”, made by famous comic duo Yan Fei and Peng Damo, continues this legacy.

The movie addresses what is a defining challenge for contemporary Chinese society: the fear that rapid economic success might be creating a generation too soft to sustain what their parents built through sheer determination and sacrifice.