Mai

The move has been hated by many Vietnamese who never watch it. The hate is from the boycott towards the director.

For me, I care about the movie, not the director's private life. I'm not his fan or anti-fan.

The movie worthed its cents. Good plot twists, great acting, informal dialogues, good scenes. However, the story is simple, opera soap like.

I rarely have chances to watch Vietnamese movies which are this good. I would say for every 10 Vietnamese movies, only 1 movie acquire this (or higher) quality.

Unfortunately, too many people rejected its value without watching the movie once.

Just my two cents.

I can't believe I lost 2 hours of my life watching a movie that ends in triumph for the character I most despised. This confounding tumultuous tale of a carnival-like Vietnamese subculture awash in masseuses, evil neighbors, street thugs and perverts might be exciting to some viewers but it's one rabbit hole I wish I never ventured down. While the fact that many Vietnamese kids will dutifully worship at the feet of judgemental, controlling and selfish parents is something I've seen firsthand, it doesn't make it any easier to witness or accept. From the get-go, the film's protagonists all seem to suffer from a culturally pervasive sort of Stockholm Syndrome. Despite an ephemeral moment or two of promising romantic charm, overall I found the story relentlessly disturbing.

This is a beautiful story about the character Mai's journey to find happiness. The character's psychology is portrayed deeply and complexly. The director gave us a deep dive into the character's psychology. This is not a simple romantic movie. This is a movie about life and happiness in every person. Although there are still many errors in the storytelling, this is a significant mark of Vietnamese films. From the film we can see the careful investment in content, images, script and message conveyed. The actors have devoted a lot to their roles. In short, this is a movie worth watching. An incredible cinematic mark from Tran Thanh.

I think I never really watch a lot of Vietnamese film in my life, when this movie release on streaming service, I never really interested to watch it, but when all the hype rising about how good this movie is, I just watch, want to try Vietnamese cinema. I think what is strong from this movie is the female lead, she is so incredibly beautiful, you cannot take eyes off her. Then the story is riveting, it keep you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next. I think the story move very smoothly, all the characters are interesting enough to keep your interest. Especially Phuong Anh Dao, I watch a lot of movie but I think I never seen any actress that is so breathtaking like her, I'm gonna start marathon Vietnamese cinema, dig in a bit what's good they have.

As a Vietnamese person, I am just speechless of how this movie can be called and even represented for Vietnam Films industry in general.

Movie wise, this is literally a 80% copy of La La Land from screenplay slap in one more of those "fancy transitions", soap opera stage acting and the on-going box office buff allegations surrounding the film.

Take a look at the reviews on other movie databases, Letterboxd & Rotten Tomatoes. Tran Thanh marketing team literally deleted the film's page just to get rid of the reviews only to re-upload them 1 week after. I do not respect this behavior from a studio that is trying to silence the honest reviews from critics!