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Niu Lai

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Niu Lai
Theatrical release poster
Theatrical release poster
Simplified Chinese牛来
Traditional Chinese牛來
Hanyu PinyinNiú Lái
Directed byXin Yumeng
Written bySun Lifang
Produced byXin Yumeng
Sun Lifang
StarringXin Yumeng
Sun Lifang
CinematographyXin Yumeng
Edited byXin Yumeng
Music bySun Lifang
Animation byXin Yumeng
Production
companies
Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media
Distributed byTianjin Yamazaki Film
Release date
  • 5 August 2026 (2026-08-05)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin
Box officeCN¥ 59.05 million

Niu Lai (Chinese: 牛来; pinyin: Niú Lái; lit. 'Here Comes the Cow') is a 2026 Chinese animated film directed by Xin Yumeng and written by Sun Lifang. It was produced by Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media, formerly an interior design and decoration company, and released by Tianjin Yamazaki Film.

While initial box office sales struggled, producing only a few thousand yuan, the film gained sudden notoriety for its low-quality animation. The ridicule it received turned it into a viral phenomenon on Chinese social media, resulting in a sleeper hit which earned millions at the box office.

Plot

Niu Lai, a newborn calf, struggles to stand up. As he struggles, he passes out and has a dream encounter with a nearby skylark, who he agrees to work with. He goes on to learn the various aspects of life along with his mother and the skylark, passing challenges such as being bitten by a snake or crossing a river.

One day, he encounters Bao La, an orphaned leopard, who he befriends and feeds with milk against the opinion of his mother and the herd. A roaming pack of wolves attempts to attack the herd; Bao La distracts them, but the herd takes the decision to migrate, forcing Niu Lai to say farewell to the leopard. The herd faces a difficult crossing of the desert. Although they get a brief respite upon reaching the grassland beyond the desert, it is only short-lived as the wolves followed the herd. Niu Lai and his mother are saved by Bao La, who also secretly followed them.

They take refuge in a hidden valley with the rest of the herd but once again do not find peace as other wolves prey on the herd. Niu Lai's mother, weakened by all the travels, decides to sacrifice herself to help her son and Bao La get away.

After a flash-forward, Niu Lai and Bao La are now adults and have grown strong enough to confront wolves; Niu Lai leads the herd in place of his father. During a fight with two wolves, they hear a loud noise, which chases the wolves away. They discover it belongs to a man-made machine rampaging through the land. Niu Lai resolves to confront it and sacrifice himself to prevent it from discovering the herd.

As he prepares to fight the machine, he is again transported to a dream encounter with the skylark. As they reflect on their journey, Niu Lai hears a voice telling him to wake up. It is revealed that the whole events were a dream as Niu Lai lay passed out on the ground. The skylark prompts him to stand up, which he finally manages. He runs after the flying skylark, and finds the hidden valley from his dream, where he meets the herd and his father.

Cast

  • Xin Yumeng as:
    • Niu Lai, the main character who grows into a mature ox
    • Niu Lai's Dad, the father of Niu Lai and the leader of the herd
    • Niu Er, a calf the same age as Niu Lai
    • Bao La, a young leopard who is grateful to the herd for being rescued by a cow
  • Sun Lifang as:
    • Niu Lai's Mom, the mother of Niu Lai who teaches and accompanies him as he grows
    • Lark, a lark that witnesses Niu Lai's growth

Production

Niu Lai was directed by Xin Yumeng (信雨萌) and written by Sun Lifang (孙丽芳), a son-and-mother team from Dalian, Liaoning. They were the sole crew members and voice actors of the animation.[1][2] This was the first film Xin worked on and Sun taught herself screenwriting.[3] It took around 3 to 4 months for Xin and Sun to refine the characters.[4] Sun wrote the soundtrack and performed the theme song.[5][4]

Xin and Sun respectively are the legal representative and the financial officer for the production company, Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media (大连璟园文化影视传媒有限公司).[2][6] The company was formed in 2016 as Dalian Jingyuan Decoration Engineering (大连璟园装饰工程有限公司) focusing on interior design and decoration, before changing its business registration to be a media production company in July 2021.[7]

Xin Yumeng came up with the idea for Niu Lai in 2021, and chose to have the plot revolve around an ox as his father was born during the year of the Ox and 2021 was the year of the Ox as well.[4] Production on the film took over five years[8] and cost several thousand yuan.[9] They bought second-hand hardware online as new hardware was too expensive.[4][3] SketchUp, an architectural modeling program, was used for the animation instead of a specialized animation software.[10]

Release

The public screening license from the China Film Administration was issued on 25 August 2025.[11] No promotional campaign was conducted for Niu Lai, including no trailers or interviews. The only advertisement for the film was one poster using traditional ink wash painting.[12] Theater staff did not have proper promotional posters, and some theatre staff resorted to hand drawing their own posters for the movie.[13]

Tianjin Yamazaki Film[11] was advised against releasing Niu Lai due to its quality, but chose to do so due to it being run by a friend of Xin.[14] It premiered in 245 theaters[6] on 5 August 2026,[15] before being reduced to 4 theaters by 14 August.[6] The number of daily screenings increased from 21 on 14 August to 359 on 15 August.[16]

Reception

Box office

Niu Lai earned ¥7,169 (USD$1,111.47) from 236 people in the first nine days of its release.[12] However, following mass social media mockery, it earned over ¥100,000 in presales, including ¥46,000 on 15 August.[1][15] It became a sleeper hit, which earned millions of yuan at the box office in the following days.[5][17] It has grossed ¥59.05 million (USD$9,155,038.76) at the box office.[18] It is among the top ten highest-grossing animated films in China in 2026[8] and one of the highest returns on investment for a film.[9][19] Tianjin Maoyan Weiying Culture Media estimates that it will earn ¥133–135 million.[11]

Critical

The film was criticized due to its visual quality. In this shot, the father of Niu Lai (right) comments on the flavor of the milk produced by Niu Lai's mother (left).

FTV News noted that many audience members found a jarring difference between the ink wash painting for the poster and the low quality computer-generated imagery for the film.[12]

Niu Lai has been described as a cult film.[20][21] The BBC noted that social media users preferred the low-quality but human-made animation over AI art.[13] Animation art director Zhou Shengwei (周圣崴) compared the popularity of Niu Lai to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Room (2003).[22] Film critic Ryan Ra wrote that the unconventional character designs and animation incited laughter among the audience.[23]

Lily Kuo, writing for The New York Times, noted that the plot was baffling and that the animation was compared to a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.[24] Ed Power, writing for The Daily Telegraph, compared the animation to the music video for "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.[10] Film critic Jenni Zylka [de] criticized the dialogue as sluggish, the lip-syncing was off-key, and compared the cow models to the Teletubbies.[25]

The Beijing News criticized Niu Lai for lowering the bar on expectations for poorly made films and called for theaters to stop screening the film.[13] Cui Jingxuan, the director of Citywide Manhunt (全城追缉) (2026), stated that Niu Lai "ripped off the last fig leaf of Chinese cinemas".[25]

References

  1. 1 2 Zhu, Jiazhang (15 August 2026). 《牛來》｜國產動畫災難級畫質及無厘頭劇情惹議 10日票房7700元 [Niu Lai: the animated feature provoking debate over its disastrous animation quality and nonsensical plot, with a 10-day box office haul of 7,700 yuan]. HK01 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 15 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 Deng, Bo (14 August 2026). 动画片《牛来》被指"灾难级画质"，上映9天票房未过万，剧组仅导演和编剧两人，网友边吐槽边说"想看" [Animated film Niu Lai labeled "disaster-level animation" with box office below 10,000 yuan after nine days; the crew is just the director and the screenwriter, and netizens mock it while saying "we want to watch it"]. Phoenix Television (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 15 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 Yasmin, Shahana (18 August 2026). "Director of 'bizarre' Chinese film Niu Lai says creators didn't want to let precision get in way of story". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 《牛来》导演：用的二手设备，母亲完成谱曲，曾多次有放弃念头 [Niu Lai director: used second-hand equipment, mother composed the score, and he often considered giving up]. Phoenix Television (in Chinese). 18 August 2026. Archived from the original on 18 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 Zhong, Han (15 August 2026). 大巧若拙还是抽象猎奇？电影《牛来》反向登顶 [Clumsy genius or absurd curiosity? The film Niu Lai tops the charts in reverse]. Shangguan News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 15 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 《牛來》國產動畫10日票房僅¥7,705 網民諷「聽過的人已後悔」 [Niu Lai domestic animation earns only ¥7,705 in 10 days; netizens mock that "those who have heard of it already regret it"]. Headline Daily (in Chinese). 15 August 2026. Archived from the original on 15 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Wei, Shunshun (14 August 2026). 电影《牛来》上映9天票房未过万 出品方前身是装修公司 [Niu Lai's box office stays below 10,000 yuan after nine days; the producer's predecessor was a decoration company]. Jimu News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 15 August 2026.
  8. 1 2 Ma, Yidong, ed. (16 August 2026). 票房超550万元，《牛来》成今年国产动画票房第10名 [Box office tops 5.5 million yuan; Niu Lai becomes the 10th highest-grossing domestic animated film this year]. Phoenix Television (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 18 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 牛來 電影「爛到極致」狂吸網民二創打卡 票房破1100萬遭急下架 [Niu Lai, a film "bad to the core," draws viral fan-made parodies and check-ins as box office tops 11 million yuan before a rushed removal]. HK01 (in Chinese). 17 August 2026. Archived from the original on 17 August 2026.
  10. 1 2 Power, Ed (20 August 2026). "The 'unbelievably terrible' no-budget film making millions in China". The Daily Telegraph.
  11. 1 2 3 电影《牛来》豆瓣开分5.9 [The film Niu Lai opens with a score of 5.9 on Douban]. Phoenix Television (in Chinese). 19 August 2026. Archived from the original on 20 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 中國電影《牛來》畫面超災難！「粗糙3D＋穿模卡頓」9天票房僅7169元創新低 [Chinese film Niu Lai has disastrous visuals! "Crude 3D plus clipping and stutter" drive a nine-day box office low of just 7,169 yuan]. FTV News (in Chinese). 14 August 2026. Archived from the original on 15 August 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 Ewe, Koh (17 August 2026). "Movie that went viral for terrible animation becomes China box office hit". BBC. Archived from the original on 17 August 2026.
  14. ↑ Hawkins, Amy (17 August 2026). "'Bad in every aspect': low-tech animation Niu Lai trounces the Odyssey at Chinese box office". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 August 2026.
  15. 1 2 Kong, Xiaoping (15 August 2026). 影院反向加场，《牛来》总票房已怒破10万 [Theaters buck the trend and add screenings as Niu Lai's total box office surges past 100,000 yuan]. Yangtse Evening Post (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 18 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Teng, Chao (15 August 2026). 《牛来》靠"抽象"出圈：有观众驱车30公里只为见证"历史" ["Absurd" Niu Lai breaks out: some viewers drive 30 kilometers just to witness "history"]. The Beijing News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "China Film's Sales Soar as Online Scorn Attracts Curious Viewers". Bloomberg News. 15 August 2026. Archived from the original on 16 August 2026. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  18. ↑ 牛来 [Niu Lai]. Maoyan (in Chinese). Tianjin Maoyan Weiying Culture Media. Retrieved 16 August 2026.
  19. ↑ Scott, Ryan (20 August 2026). "Obsession Has Been Dethroned As The Most Profitable Movie Ever At The Box Office". /Film. Archived from the original on 20 August 2026.
  20. ↑ Chapman, Wilson (21 August 2026). "'Niu Lai,' the $200 Chinese Animated Film Taking Social Media by Storm, Might Be 'The Room' for a New Generation". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 22 August 2026.
  21. ↑ "Chinese Animated Indie 'Niu Lai' Goes from Butt of Jokes to Box-Office Champ". Animation Magazine. 17 August 2026. Archived from the original on 22 August 2026.
  22. ↑ He, Tao (15 August 2026). 深度 这么糙的《牛来》为什么能公映？听专业人士详解 [In depth: how did this crude Niu Lai get a theatrical release? Professionals explain in detail]. The Paper (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 August 2026.
  23. ↑ Ra, Ryan (18 August 2026). 《牛來》觀影實錄 [Niu Lai: an account of watching the film]. HK Film Blog (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 18 August 2026.
  24. ↑ Kuo, Lily (20 August 2026). "Bad Plot, Worse Graphics: Chinese Moviegoers Flock to a Low-Budget Hit". The New York Times.
  25. 1 2 《牛来》爆红：年轻人的反AI狂欢 [Niu Lai goes viral: young people's anti-AI revelry]. Deutsche Welle (in Chinese). 15 August 2026. Archived from the original on 23 August 2026.
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