鉴证实录2

Low-budget ‘Niu Lai’ emerges as a surprise hit with its ‘disaster-level’ animation, grabbing millions in China as curiosity rivals Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’_我的网站

大闹天竺

A |

Photo: Screenshot from website

While Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and a string of high-profile domestic and international releases compete for audiences in China's fiercely contested summer movie season, an obscure animated film has emerged as one of the period's most unexpected box-office stories.
Niu Lai, a low-budget original animation with rudimentary character modeling and an unconventional, abstract storyline, hit Chinese theaters on August 5 but earned just 7,169 yuan ($995) during its first nine days. But its cumulative box office had surpassed 2.5 million yuan as of press time.
Niu Lai opened with little of the machinery normally associated with a commercial theatrical release. It had no star-studded cast, major promotional campaign or significant pre-release buzz. Its opening-day box office was just over 3,400 yuan ($474), with fewer than 300 moviegoers watching it during its first nine days, according to Maoyan.
That changed on August 14, when a social media topic about its nine-day box office of just over 7,000 yuan went viral. Rather than praising the film, many users were drawn to its unusually rough production and two-person creative team.
Terms such as “the most basic theatrical film,” “disaster-level” and “worse than AI-generated animation” circulated online, with some netizens saying they could “hardly believe it was a Chinese animated film released in 2026.” Others said they wanted to see it simply to find out “just how bad it could be.” Some even joked that stock market investors were heading to theaters after wishing for a “bull market” to arrive soon.
The online buzz has also sparked a wave of fan-made content, with netizens inserting the film's little bull character into posters for various classic movies. The playful edits have further fueled its visibility on social media, turning Niu Lai into an internet meme and a shared online joke.
The film's viral attention also spawned jokes that Nolan might not have expected Niu Lai to become an unlikely rival to The Odyssey, which opened in China on August 14 amid intense competition for summer moviegoers.
Its rise stands in sharp contrast to the conventional logic of China's increasingly competitive theatrical market, particularly this summer, when a string of high-profile releases, including The Odyssey, Once Upon a Time in the Middle East and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, are competing for audiences.
"Niu Lai has been driven by curiosity and social currency, with audiences essentially paying a premium for the feeling of being part of a trending phenomenon. Curiosity can generate genuine audience interest, but social-media-driven hype is essentially a bubble built on traffic," Zhang Peng, a cultural researcher and associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times.
"When cinemas add screenings for Niu Lai, they may appear to be responding quickly to market demand, but in reality, they are giving in to online buzz rather than making decisions based on the quality of the film itself," Zhang said.
According to Zhang, The Odyssey's strong reception and high theater attendance in China demonstrate that high-quality content, combined with a distinctive and hard-to-replicate theatrical experience, remains at the heart of the cinema business.
"Niu Lai, meanwhile, serves as a warning that speculative filmmaking and curiosity-driven marketing should not be mistaken for a replicable formula, as relying on such tactics offers little positive value for the long-term development of the film industry," he said.
"A fleeting viral frenzy can never replace a solid creative foundation. Content quality remains the enduring value that will sustain the film industry over the long term," Zhang said.
。

人很少为自己讨厌的事情牺牲大量时间和睡眠，体育迷除外。如果你讨厌一部电影，看一会就会关掉；如果你吃完后不喜欢一家饭店，第二次去那的概率也微乎其微。人类趋利避害的本能，总是让我们倾向于把宝贵的时间花在能带来愉悦感的事物上，不适的就会去远离。但在竞技体育的世界里，好像并非如此。看球一直是一种爱憎分明的活动，几乎每个球迷都会有偏爱或者讨厌的队伍和球员。过往，大部分人在面对自己不喜欢的队伍时，都会选择不去看或者关注。但现在，越来越多的人选择做另一件事：批评式观看（hate-watching）。

B | 顾名思义，批评式观赛指的是明明不喜欢某支球队或某个运动员，却还是专门守着比赛直播，就为了盼着他们输。图源：Reddit最初，这个词是被影评家用于影视领域，形容观众明明觉得一档节目很烂，依然一期不落地追，为的就是挑错、吐槽，再从批评中获得满足，在2013年前后大量出现。那个时间节点，恰好也是社交媒体逐渐成为大众主流发声工具的时候。当然了，这种盼着死敌倒霉的心态在球迷文化其实并不陌生，但过往这种期待往往只是热爱主队的副产品，因为我支持A，所以我顺便盼着B输。但是近一两年在体育社媒上更明显的变化，是这种「讨厌」逐渐脱离主队关系，单独成为一种观看动力。因为很多时候，一些人批评式观看的两队，哪个都不是自己主队。而且由于有了这样的归纳性术语，很多社媒上都开始出现一些追本溯源的帖子，比如你一生中最好的批评式观看经历是什么？其中很多都是十几二十年前的案例。那么，为什么批评式观看能成为一种文化现象？一个很重要的原因，就是这种心态本身带有的情绪奖励。幸灾乐祸这个词大家都知道，现实里，这种情绪不太体面，也没有人提倡这种心态和行为。但是，体育赛事某种程度上却为此划出了合法区域，某个队伍的失败也会反向加强自己的身份认同。更深一层的满足也来自观点自证，一些球队因为张扬的行事风格或者球迷文化，给外界留下了极差印象，当一个人认定它名不副实或者「迟早出事」，每次输球都是对批评式观赛人群观点的确认。而且，有些时候看主队比赛是一种历劫，要常备速效救心丸，一场比赛就能尝遍人间的酸甜苦辣。但看死敌比赛，相当于是纯粹的享受，是一种零风险、高回报的情绪投资。甚者，一些深受「阴间」赛程折磨、主队比赛时间对中国球迷极度不友好的球迷，为了多看球就会去早场较多的其他联赛认领第二主队，再顺着球队关系找出第二「死敌」。花几个小时时间看主队输球be like 图源：Reddit读到这里，有些人会觉得这个心态过于扭曲，但我们需要厘清一个极其重要的边界：纯粹的互联网喷子，和批评式观赛不是一回事。绝大多数时候，后者只是一种「乐子人」的情绪消遣心态，而不是真的要去对他人造成实质性的伤害。某种程度上，批评式观赛也能当作一种时间管理工具。今天这种信息爆炸的时代，一个人能挤出来的看球时间太有限了，很多人希望在主队之外多看点比赛，所以就选择去代入一些情绪，让自己有更有动力和代入去看更多比赛。如果一定要做个不太严谨的比较，一个连比赛都不看的喷子，和一个认真看完比赛的黑粉，哪个更差？大家大概都有自己的答案。那为什么要一定去批评式观看，而不是纯粹享受竞技本身？因为体育迷能做到这件事概率，比实现世界和平还要艰难。

C | 而且，一个球员和队伍越强，越容易成为批评式观赛的对象。

D | 这两天，《独树不成林》的主播仲树关于《奥德赛》采访导演诺兰的视频出圈，其中有一个极具穿透力的观点：现在我们生活在一个「需要为伟大道歉」的时代。

E | 图源：@仲树这种对伟大的天然警惕甚至排斥，在体育世界中其实一直存在，并且表现得淋漓尽致。很多时候，一支球队的统治力越强、建立的王朝越是漫长，就越不可避免地会成为众矢之的，批评式观赛很少是针对弱队的。不过，一个行为能成为现象，除了个体行为和心理机制外，也跟社会和媒介的发展离不开关系。

F | 批评式观赛文化的彻底爆发，很大程度上是由于社媒和其算法的推波助澜，且扮演了一个双刃剑的角色。一方面，其让批评式观赛变成了一种能找到同好圈子文化，变成某种调侃。

G | 但另一方面，社媒也让这种原本应该无伤大雅的乐子人心态，面临着随时变味的风险。当下各大平台的底层逻辑，都在奖励负面情绪和观点。

H | 有理有据的战术讨论，信息流都不愿正眼瞧一眼；但某个失误画面配上一嘲讽，算法就像是看到菠菜的大力水手。在这样的机制喂养下，批评式观赛有些时候也变得跟比赛本身无关，而是变成了一场巨型的互联网社交表演，很多人开始模糊底线，让其上升为人身攻击和骂战。如果到了这个地步，那批评式观赛就与纯粹喷子的行为并无区别。我想，这种脱离于原本意义和目的的行为，是所有人都不愿意看到的。毕竟，树立某个「反派」可以让人更投入的看比赛，但如果最后搞得戾气横生、丧失底线，脱离圈子去攻击他人，那这好不容易挤出来的宝贵时间和睡眠，可就真的不值当了。