'Worst' VFX draws curious crowds as $300-budget Chinese film grosses millions

A Chinese animated film mocked for its bizarre visuals, stiff animation and poor-quality VFX has turned into an unlikely box-office sensation, drawing audiences precisely because of how bad they believe it is.

Titled New Lie, the 86-minute animated film was released in China on August 5. Built around the unusual relationship between a newborn calf and a sparrow, the film initially appeared headed for obscurity, earning only around 7,700 yuan in its first 10 days with just a few hundred people buying tickets nationwide.

Its fortunes changed dramatically after clips from the film began circulating on social media. Viewers ridiculed its crude 3D graphics, awkward character movements, weak dubbing and confusing storyline, with some comparing it to a student project and others saying its visuals were "worse than AI-generated" work.

The mockery, however, created a powerful curiosity effect. Viewers began heading to cinemas to see for themselves just how unusual the film was.

According to Chinese ticket-tracking platform Maoyan, New Lie has grossed more than 14.9 million yuan, or roughly Tk24 crore. That is a staggering return on a reported production budget of just 20,000-30,000 yuan—around Tk 30,000-40,000.

The film's unexpected success has placed it alongside major releases such as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day on Chinese box-office charts.

New Lie was made primarily by a mother-and-son team. Director Xin Yumeng and his mother, Sun Lifang, reportedly handled much of the writing, directing, production and voice work themselves. The project took about five years to complete.

Their production company, Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media, had previously operated as an interior-design business.

The film's success has also triggered debate over whether its box-office performance represents a new form of audience-driven publicity or a worrying decline in quality standards. In a commentary published by state-owned Beijing News, cinemas were warned against lowering their standards by screening poorly made films and urged to act as "gatekeepers" for quality.

The film's distributor said he had initially been advised against releasing it but decided to do so because of his personal relationship with the director. Some reports have also claimed that the production company has since withdrawn the film.

Whatever its ultimate fate, New Lie has demonstrated the unusual power of negative publicity: a film that struggled to attract even a few hundred viewers in its first 10 days has become a box-office talking point largely because audiences wanted to witness its infamous visuals for themselves.