The new sensation among some Chinese moviegoers is an animated film whose characters appear to have been created with rudimentary 3D animation and have been described as “ugly” and “eerie”.

But it is the scathing online reviews that seem to have prompted interest in Niu Lai, an animated film about a calf who had a dream about himself growing up with the help of his family, driving a surprising surge at the box office.

The film earned only about 10,000 yuan (US$1,480) at the box office in the first 10 days after its August 5 release. On some days, the film took in as little as 200 yuan (US$30) at the box office, according to Maoyan, a movie-tracking platform. The figure was exceptionally low, particularly during the competitive summer movie season.