A low-budget Chinese animated film about a cow and a skylark has unexpectedly become a box office sensation, despite initially attracting almost no audience and receiving virtually no promotion.
Niu Lai, translated as The Cow Is Coming, is an 86-minute animation centred on a newborn calf and a skylark whose relationship unfolds through an abstract dream sequence.
Released on August 5, the film reportedly earned just 7,700 yuan (around RM4,500) during its first 10 days in cinemas, with fewer than 300 people nationwide buying tickets. It had no promotional tour, pre-release campaign or even a trailer.
However, the film’s fortunes changed dramatically after Chinese social media users began discussing its reportedly poor animation and storytelling. What started as criticism soon turned into a viral meme, prompting curious audiences to head to cinemas to see the film for themselves.
According to movie tracking platform Mao Yan, Niu Lai has now earned more than 14.9 million yuan (around RM8.7 million), making it one of the year’s better-performing films in China despite its humble beginnings.
The film’s unexpected rise has seen it share the box office spotlight with major productions such as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
The Odyssey earned 192 million yuan (around RM112 million) during its three-day opening weekend in China, placing second behind the domestic production Once Upon A Time In The Middle East, which collected 477.9 million yuan (around RM279 million) over the same period.
Unlike China’s increasingly polished animated blockbusters, Niu Lai was produced by just two people over a five-year period. Writers, directors, voice actors and producers Xin Yumeng and Sun Lifang are reportedly a mother-and-son team.
The film’s distributor was reportedly advised against releasing it because of concerns over its quality. However, he decided to proceed because of his friendship with the director.
Despite the criticism, some viewers have embraced the deliberately rough-looking animation, particularly at a time when artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in creative industries.
One viewer on Chinese film review platform Douban questioned whether the filmmakers had deliberately chosen the handmade and crude visual style as a way of returning to a more authentic form of creativity.
An unnamed film industry professional described the animation as being unusually poor across almost every aspect, including its storyline and visual effects, but said that its shortcomings were precisely what made audiences curious.
The film’s popularity has nevertheless divided opinion within China’s film industry. While some see its success as a refreshing example of audiences embracing unconventional creativity, others believe its popularity has come at the expense of higher-quality productions.
The same industry professional described the film’s unexpected success as “an embarrassment to the Chinese film industry”, highlighting the unusual nature of a production becoming a hit largely because audiences wanted to experience just how bad it was.
