Niu Lai, the universally panned animated movie which initially broke headlines for making just over 7,000 yuan ($1,000) at the Chinese box office, has turned its fortunes around after becoming a viral sensation.
Niu Lai, Chinese for ‘Here Comes the Cow’, has since grossed over 20,000,000 yuan ($3 million), as of August 18.
Audiences and critics alike have pointed to its extremely low-budget animation, confusing plot, and shoddy voice acting – both as reasons for its failure and viral rise.
On Douban, China’s movie review site, Niu Lai receives a mix of earnest 1-star and ironic 5-star reviews: “It’s really good, I recommend everyone to watch it,” says of the top 4-star comments.
“It’s so good! I recommend everyone to watch it. It’s a rare gem among domestic productions. Out of 100, I’d give it a 90-something,” adds another user, rating it 5 stars.
Conversely, one commenter said the film has “the animation quality of a 20-year-old computer game (…) the plot is incredibly boring,” before adding “this kind of movie wouldn’t even get you a degree in college!”
What is Niu Lai?
The film’s plot revolves around the titular Niu Lai, a newborn calf who forms an unlikely friendship with a skylark, and together they embark on an abstract-slash-absurdist adventure.
The 86-minute-long movie was made entirely by Xin Yumeng and his mother, Sun Lifan, over the span of five years, with a budget of roughly 30,000 yuan ($4,450).
With zero budget left for advertising, cinema staff were forced to make their own posters on whiteboards with markers, often featuring drawings of the titular cow with weird slogans like “Come on over if you’re into the bizarre” and “No refunds”.
Xin defended the animation style, saying he prioritised the story.
“If we focused all our energy on rendering precision, this film would never have been made. Between perceiving details and the overall narrative, I chose to let the story run first,” Xin said during a radio interview with Entrepreneurial Youth Talk.
The ‘handmade’ nature of the film has received some actual praise, as AI-generated videos and even entire TV series take off in China.
“Obviously not up to standard”
Beijing is far from impressed. The official word comes in a commentary posted by state-run outlet Beijing News, which warns cinemas against running the movie.
It said movie theatres risk “losing the trust” of filmgoers by showing Niu Lai, adding it lowers the standards of the cinemas and audiences’ expectations.
It called upon movie theatres to “reject films that are obviously not up to standard”.
Bullish box office
牛 (Niú) is both the word for ‘cow’ and ‘bull’ in Chinese, so the title also could mean “The bull is coming,” as in a bull stock market is coming.
“This is a must-see movie for Chinese stock market investors, bar none,” says one user on Douban.
If the film’s meteoric rise on the box office is a sign, then Niu Lai may well be a cash cow after all.
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Ian Trinidad 
Gabrielle Wilkinson