'Niu Lai', the 'so bad it's good' Chinese cartoon becoming a box-office hit

In an era of blockbusters and AI-generated videos, Niu Lai ("The Arrival of the Ox") looks like a relic from another age.

Its angular modelling, erratic animation and crude textures recall the computer graphics of the early 1990s. Yet the dreamlike adventures of a shy calf have become a genuine cinema phenomenon thanks to the negative publicity surrounding the film.

Xin Yumeng began the project with a budget of about €13,000, funded by family savings. With no formal training, the former interior designer directed, modelled, animated and voiced the film himself while his mother wrote the screenplay and theme song.

Over five years, the pair created the story of a young calf discovering life through a dream filled with encounters and dangers.

Box office turnaround

Despite warnings from distributors not to release the film, Niu Lai made it into cinemas without a promotional poster, advertising campaign or trailer. Cinemas even had to draw their own posters by hand. Its release on 5 August was a complete flop.

After 10 days, ticket sales had brought in little more than 7,000 yuan, or just under €900, with barely more than 200 tickets sold.

But clips from the film soon began circulating online. Internet users mocked the rudimentary visuals, stiff animation, poor dubbing and confusing plot.

The pixelated fable was widely described as unwatchable. Yet the criticism helped send the film viral and introduced it to a much wider audience.

Whether as a joke or out of curiosity, viewers went to cinemas to see how bad it really was. Many filmed themselves in screenings and created parody videos.

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Industry debate

Cinemas added extra screenings and, by 17 August, the film had earned nearly 18 million yuan, or about €2.3 million. Some estimates suggest its final Chinese box-office total could reach 135 million yuan, more than €17 million.

Niu Lai has outperformed Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, rivalled the latest Spider-Man film and become one of China's most profitable animated films of 2026.

The success has puzzled the media, which has tried to explain how a commercial failure became a box-office smash.

The online newspaper Pengpai said the film's success, "through its simplicity", showed a "resistance to the assembly-line production of digital capitalism", as reported by Courrier international. Tatler Asia described it as a "celebration of human imperfection" in the face of "the proliferation of AI-generated content [...] devoid of soul".

While some viewers were drawn by the film's poor quality, others said its handmade character offered a welcome alternative to AI-generated imagery and formulaic studio productions. A child looks at a drawing poster promoting the Chinese animated film "Niu Lai" with other movie posters at a cinema in Beijing on 18 August 2026.

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The mother-and-son team eventually received strong support from internet users, who praised the authenticity of the project despite its flaws.

Film critics also began analysing the 86-minute feature seriously, examining its unusual style, empty shots and slow pace.

Whether intentionally or not, the film's success has prompted debate in China about the film industry and the expectations of a generation surrounded by highly polished content but still receptive to eccentric and old-fashioned creations.

The attention has not pleased everyone. In an editorial, the state-run Beijing News warned that screening too many films like Niu Lai could lower standards and lead to a "loss of public confidence", harming the work of film professionals.

The debate eventually led the director to withdraw the film from cinemas. Rumours suggest it could be released in Malaysia and in Singapore in September.

For now, the little ox has found a new life online.

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by Baptiste Condominas.