"A movie has brought me so much joy. If I still want to say it is a bad movie, I think it is unfair to it. I cannot be such a bad person." Ms. Wang, who lives in Shanghai, recently watched the movie "Niu Lai" and expressed the common feelings of moviegoers.
The film was ridiculed for its crude production, but unexpectedly became popular on social networks, sparked a nationwide carnival, and achieved box office miracles. Within 15 days of its release, the film’s box office revenue exceeded 25 million.
This past weekend, from Weibo and Xiaohongshu to Instagram and Threads, this film, which had no pre-announcement and was only produced by director Xin Yumeng and his mother for five years, became the focus of heated discussions among netizens around the world.
Practitioners estimate that the production cost of this 86-minute animated film does not exceed 6 figures. Even the ending song was sung by the director's mother herself.
In fact, the popularity of "Niu Lai" was very sudden. It started as a joke. On its ninth day of release, its box office revenue was only 7,352 yuan ($1,090.27). Due to the abstract and rough production, the first batch of viewers who bought tickets to enter the theater were very angry, so they took screen shots and posted sliced videos on the Internet, which quickly aroused a carnival-like discussion on the entire Internet.
Ms. Wang told BBC Chinese that she saw a lot of sliced videos of "Niu Lai" on social media on Saturday (15th). She was very happy to watch them and thought she should go to the theater to buy tickets to support it. Since there weren't many movies scheduled, she could only buy tickets for a movie theater a little far away from her home. The screening was not only full, but the atmosphere was also lively. Some viewers made small peripherals based on sliced films of "Niu Lai" circulated on the Internet - including Niu Lai brand cheese and some hand-painted posters. They communicated with strangers in the theater and gave them away for free.
After the show, everyone got together in groups to chat, and even suggested that Bao La, the awesome friend in the film, was the loyal partner that everyone yearned for. "The story of Niu Lai itself is very good, which I am very moved by," Ms. Wang said. "The director's technique is indeed not very good, but his pure heart is really that of an artist."
According to data from Chinese box office platform Maoyan, as of Saturday (August 15), the box office of "Niu Lai" was only 716,000 yuan (US$106,000); the next day, the box office soared to 6.08 million (US$901,600). In the following days, "Niu Lai" accounted for only 5.2% of the box office of the scheduled films. In the face of the overseas imported blockbuster "Odyssey" and the Chinese theme-driven movie "Welcome to the Dragon Restaurant" which accounted for more than 30% of the scheduled films during the same period, it continued to maintain a high box office.
"If the full score is 10, I give it 8 points," said Aubrie, an audience member from the United States who watched the movie in Chengdu. She told BBC Chinese that she watched the clip of "Niu Lai" on Instagram and found it very interesting, so she went to watch the movie with two friends. "It's good because it's really poorly done to a certain extent, and I was really happy to watch it."
On platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Threads, and Instagram, many netizens posted a large amount of stolen content. Due to the rough footage, public opinion initially questioned why a film of this caliber existed. But gradually, public opinion began to jokingly call the film a "relic of the AI era" and affirmed the hard work of the two producers who had taught themselves the film for five years. Some netizens posted slices prepared by themselves using AI, but more netizens choked and said, "The good thing about "Niu Lai" is that it is honest."
On Douban, a Chinese film and television book rating platform, even though there are more than 15,000 short reviews, the platform still locks the ratings and does not directly open the ratings. Some viewers angrily cursed: "You can't even graduate from college with this kind of movie!", "You can make fun of it, but if this kind of movie can be popular and successful, it will really be the biggest tragedy of Chinese movies." But at the same time, some commented that "this is the real bard of the twilight era" and "no matter how simple the true feelings are, they are greater than the most exquisite nonsense moans and grand narratives."
Due to the sudden popularity of the film, many theaters temporarily added theaters to cope with the influx of audiences, and hand-painted "Niu Lai" posters were posted at the entrance of the theater. Ms. Wang told BBC Chinese that she felt the popularity of "Niu Lai" is a reflection of people's desire for free expression in this era. "Everyone is too tired of grand narratives and exquisite technology, and they don't know what they can participate in. But "Niu Lai" is not the case. We can use our own hands and brains to join in, and really join in."
When "Niu Lai" received box office success, many viewers were puzzled: Why did such a movie pass censorship and be released? BBC Chinese previously reported that China’s film censorship is strict and the system is cumbersome. Many films often face temporary withdrawal and modification, and it is an established fact that creative space is tightened. However, in this context, even if the production is crude, the release procedures of "Niu Lai" are very complete. The film received script filing in 2021, passed review by the National Film Administration in 2024, obtained a public release license, and was officially released on August 5, 2026.
A front-line theater distributor also confessed to the Chinese media The Paper: "The Dragon Award received in 2024 means that the content has passed. It doesn't matter if the content does not violate laws and disciplines. It also has a public screening certificate, which means that there are no problems with the second technical level, which is incredible." Another film producer pointed out to the Chinese media that for animated films, technical review is generally about the safety and stability of the screening, and does not involve purely technical issues such as broken frames, out-of-sync audio and video, and long black screens. The review does not examine whether the production is of high quality. As long as the procedures are in compliance, you can get the dragon mark for screening.
Previously, the Chinese podcast "Entrepreneurial Youth" had an exclusive interview with Xin Yumeng, the director of "Niu Lai". This is also the only program on the Internet that interviews the director himself. Currently, this program, which was recorded on August 2, has been removed from the shelves. BBC Chinese cannot independently verify the reason. However, the Chinese media website "Observer Network" reprinted and saved the transcript of this program. During the conversation, Xin Yumeng said that the production of "Niu Lai" took 5 years, did not use any AI elements, and the equipment was purchased from Xianyu, a Chinese second-hand trading platform. Xin Yumeng said that because she watched a lot of cartoons as a child and liked them very much, she felt that she had the potential and skills to complete it. I just didn't expect that after starting production, "it was extremely difficult and I wanted to give up many times." I was also very worried about the box office after the movie was released. As for the rough production issue, Xin Yumeng said that the character models need to be polished, but they cannot put the cart before the horse.
Some netizens said after watching the movie: "If my mother spent five years with me to create an animated movie, I would be prouder and more eager than anyone else to let the whole world see it, even though it would be a trace of shame. Maybe... No matter how quarrels are on the Internet, there is no doubt that in reality, the mother and son are the happiest people this summer. What's wrong with letting ordinary people win once in a while?"
