Vietnamese LGBT-themed movie becomes hit in Japan

Arriving in Japan in January, the movie has become one in the Top Five Best Selling Foreign Film in the first half of 2021, together with Hollywood blockbusters like "Tenet" and "Wonder Woman: 1984," according to Skyline Media, distributor of "Thua Me Con Di" in Japan.

It has also received a lot of kudos from Japanese audiences, with a 4.9/5 star rating on Rakuten TV.

A still from "Thua Me Con Di." Photo courtesy of the movie.

In Japan, "Thua Me Con Di" is currently available on over eight video on demand platforms, including Rakuten TV, Fuji TV On Demand, VideoMarket, Paravi, HikariTV, Crank-In! Video, U-Next, and GYAO.

It was released in Vietnam in August 2019, and chosen for "A Window on Asian Cinema", a category for the latest and most talked about films by directors in Asia at the 2019 Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.

The directional debut of Trinh Dinh Le Minh, the movie depicts the drama of Van and his boyfriend Ian, who’ve just returned to Vietnam from the U.S. The couple is initially unable to come out about their relationship because of the taboo involved, especially in rural Vietnam. This leads to friction between them, and Van is forced to explain the nature of their relationship to his mother.