Chapter 218: Dual Success
Due to the overly irreverent nature of Movie Diary’s previous review, his latest long and serious critique felt almost surreal to his followers.
[You can be this serious?]
Movie Diary: “…”
Very serious, thank you.
Rather than saying he was the one being unserious, it would be more accurate to say that the promotional team of Clay Man was even more so.
How many viewers had they deceived—those who ended up sobbing in his comment section?
For his new review, Movie Diary chose the title The Purest Malice, as it was the most immediate impression he had after watching Clay Man.
Analyzing the character Ma Yanwen’s psyche revealed that he embodied the deepest, most concealed evil within humanity. He simply had never been given the opportunity to express it. But once given the chance, he had no reservations about exposing the darkest facets of human nature.
The more the film blurred the presence of friendships, the more it accentuated Ma Yanwen’s malevolence.
[The highlights of Clay Man lie in three aspects:
[First, the humanity of Ma Yanwen’s character.
[Second, the plot twists. How many people, like me, were shocked by a single scene conveying two completely different messages?
[Third, Mu Lang’s visual storytelling. Those seemingly mundane shots in the beginning were in fact filled with profound meaning. As the plot progressed, we were drawn deeper into Ma Yanwen’s psyche, utterly shaken by his darkness.
[Under the director’s masterful design, the audience itself seemed to become just another clay figure at his mercy.]
In this latest review, “Movie Diary” did not heavily emphasize Lu Xu’s acting. In his own words, he had already praised it enough times before—there was no need to repeat it over and over to his followers.
He merely made a brief remark, stating that Clay Man was more than enough to earn Lu Xu another Best Actor award.
To some extent, Ma Yanwen was even more complex than Cui Kaiwen in Black & White or Luo Ying in Reverse City.
[Mu Lang couldn’t have made a better choice in casting Lu Xu for this role. Out of Clay Man’s 100-minute runtime, Lu Xu’s performance carried 90% of it.]
However, due to his personal admiration for Lu Xu, Movie Diary still took the time to analyze the details of his performance—details he had overlooked on his first watch and only discovered upon a second viewing.
In his opinion, Clay Man was the best film he had seen this year. Though it wasn’t long, it had a clear structure, with no detail left behind.
[With just a few tens of millions in production costs, director Mu Lang has delivered yet another masterpiece to the film market.]
The reason Movie Diary believed Lu Xu was deserving of another award was that the film’s most shocking moments—the ones that sent chills down the spine and left audiences too unsettled to reminisce—were almost entirely crafted by Lu Xu alone.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Clay Man was essentially a one-man show for Lu Xu.
This was especially evident in the contrast between Ma Yanwen’s memories and reality—the friends swallowed by darkness, the moment of his friend’s death when Ma Yanwen no longer hid his malice, and the blend of cowardice and jealousy that twisted his very being. Even after watching countless films, Movie Diary found that no other character had ever given him the same visceral sense of unease as Ma Yanwen.
It could be said that while Clay Man had a brilliant script, without Lu Xu’s performance, the final product would have suffered a significant loss in impact.
On its first day, Clay Man earned 180 million at the box office. To be honest, if it had been any other low-budget film, Movie Diary would have been able to predict its box office trajectory after just a single viewing.
He wasn’t always spot-on with his predictions, but most of the time, he wasn’t too far off. After all, box office performance had its fundamental patterns—some films, despite their quality, were simply too niche to gain widespread appeal.
However, Clay Man was different. He found it difficult to predict its box office trajectory.
Still, Movie Diary had a strong premonition—Clay Man’s numbers would not disappoint.
As a film critic, recommending movies was part of his job. Whenever he promoted a well-made, high-grossing film, his Weibo comment section would be lively.
Conversely, if he recommended a movie that audiences didn’t resonate with, the comments would remain eerily quiet—an ominous sign for its box office performance.
The comment section under his review of Clay Man was anything but quiet—it was downright chaotic.
By the third day of the film’s release, buzzwords like “scam” and “friendship” had surged in popularity. At this point, no one was falling for the deceptive marketing anymore. Instead, discussions shifted to Clay Man’s plot and, more specifically, Ma Yanwen’s character.
The hashtag #MaYanwenRepulsiveFace climbed to the top of trending searches.
Some fans candidly admitted that Lu Xu’s portrayal of Ma Yanwen was so convincing that even Lu Xu himself now seemed repulsive to them.
Lu Xu: “…”
He could only clarify that his personality had absolutely nothing in common with Ma Yanwen’s.
[Yeah, yeah, we know. But what are we supposed to do if we still hate you?]
[+1. Honestly, I don’t even dislike Puppy playing psycho killers as much, because that feels far removed from reality. But Ma Yanwen is different—he feels like someone who could exist in my social circle, silently watching me from the shadows, harboring resentment and waiting to strike.]
[+1. Let’s be real, Lu Xu’s performance was too convincing. Not my fault. You could’ve just acted a little worse, you know?]
Lu Xu: “…”
In a way, this was also a form of praise for his acting.
Ma Yanwen’s strength as a character lay in how real he felt—but that was also precisely what made him so unsettling.
After earning 180 million yuan at the box office on its first day, Clay Man saw a slight increase in screenings on its second day, though its box office revenue dipped slightly to 160 million.
There weren’t many flaws in the film’s plot to criticize. The only real controversy stemmed from its marketing tactics. By the second day of release, media outlets had begun publishing critical articles with titles like “Exaggerated Marketing Is Not the Way” and “Is Deceiving Audiences Considered a Successful Marketing Strategy?”
The production team chose not to respond at all.
Every release season, film crews pulled every trick in the book to secure more box office revenue. Compared to other films, Clay Man’s marketing wasn’t even the most outrageous. Yet, no one ever saw the media stepping in to criticize those films.
It was simply because Clay Man was doing too well.
In just two days, the film had surpassed 300 million yuan in box office revenue—not only recouping its costs but also steadily gaining word-of-mouth traction. When films from the same release period opened their rating systems, Clay Man shocked everyone with an overall score of 9.8.
[That’s insanely high!]
[Unbelievable… Is this movie really that good? I thought people said the marketing was a scam?]
[Honestly, the marketing wasn’t misleading at all—it just approached things from a different perspective than the audience expected. All I can say is, if you love this kind of film, you’ll love it a lot. And even if you don’t, you have to admit—it’s the kind of movie that sends chills down your spine. Absolutely worth watching.]
[9.8?!? The word-of-mouth is that strong??]
Despite accusations of “fraudulent” marketing, the most frequently mentioned word in Clay Man’s reviews was realism.
Lu Xu’s acting felt real. The set design felt real. The portrayal of human nature felt real. Even though there were plenty of criticisms directed at Ma Yanwen’s character, in a way, the production team had undeniably created a successful character.
That sky-high 9.8 score was enough to make hesitant audiences—those initially scared off by the intense reviews—take a cautious step forward.
Some audiences weren’t fond of stories where darkness triumphed over light. They preferred something lighthearted and exhilarating, like Code A77. By now, most people knew that the protagonist of Clay Man, Ma Yanwen, had become synonymous with “the evil in human nature,” which deterred some from buying tickets.
But now, Clay Man wasn’t just holding onto its 9.8 rating—it was also being hailed by many as a “masterpiece.”
And that alone was enough to draw audiences into theaters.
In truth, Clay Man wasn’t a suffocating film. After all, Ma Yanwen was ultimately exposed. Rather than the plot being the film’s biggest draw, it was Ma Yanwen’s character itself that made it truly unforgettable.
[Ma Yanwen is absolutely vile, but Lu Xu’s performance? Even more insane.]
[I’ve watched so many of Lu Xu’s movies, and honestly, Ma Yanwen is the classic of classics—the kind that makes your scalp tingle with fear.]
[+1. At first, Lu Xu really nailed that balding, middle-aged man vibe. The resemblance was so strong that it made me wonder if he had someone like Ma Yanwen lurking in his life for reference.]
As discussions surrounding Clay Man grew more intense, and as word-of-mouth spread, its box office saw an unexpected surge on its third day. Instead of dropping, it soared past 200 million, surpassing even its opening-day earnings.
Lu Xu’s films had always been known for their minimal box office decline over time, and Clay Man was no exception.
With this momentum, major industry platforms quickly revised their forecasts. At this point, not a single platform predicted the film’s total revenue to be under 1 billion yuan.
Some fans even speculated that, based on the trajectory of Lu Xu’s past films, Clay Man breaking 2 billion wasn’t out of the question. After all, when Lu Xu starred in those previous hits, he was still considered a rising talent in the industry.
Now, there was no doubt—he was the box office king.
Given Clay Man’s production budget, even with Mu Lang as the director, an average daily box office of 180 million over three days was almost unheard of.
But then again, Lu Xu’s past performances had set insanely high expectations.
His portrayal of Ma Yanwen had even sparked social discussions—
[If someone like Ma Yanwen appeared in your life, how would you deal with them?]
[Would the existence of a Ma Yanwen make people give up on kindness?]
The most ridiculous part? Several recent news articles had started using Ma Yanwen reaction images. Even the viral cat meme had been repurposed with the joke:
[Good news—you finally have a friend. Bad news—his name is Ma Yanwen.]
The sheer number of reviews on Clay Man was overwhelming. Not only had “Movie Diary” written about it, but several well-known industry critics had also shared their perspectives.
While Ma Yanwen was in no way a positive character, the fact that he left such a lasting impression spoke volumes—both about the fear his despicable nature instilled in audiences and about Lu Xu’s masterful performance in bringing him to life.
[I’ve figured it out—Lu Xu’s films either break box office records or sweep award shows.]
[Correction—some do both.]
[…Lu Xu took a break to film two big-budget blockbusters, Observing the Stars at Night and Code A77, neither of which got any award nominations. He didn’t even try to campaign for them. But they raked in a combined 9.5 billion yuan at the box office, so everyone thought he was just in it for the money now. And then—bam!—he drops Clay Man, and here we go again, another major awards contender.]
[There’s no way the Golden Flame Awards snub him next year, right?]
[Forget the Contention Award for now—Clay Man is exactly the kind of film that critics love. Lu Xu is definitely winning something for this.]
Less than a week after Clay Man premiered, netizens were already discussing its award prospects.
And then—one week in—the box office soared past 1.2 billion yuan.
[The profits are already at 1 billion… and this movie didn’t even spend much on marketing, but the results are insane.]
[Lu Xu: Sorry, I’m taking all of it.]
[This is officially an unforgettable film now. I’m crying laughing.]
Fans were already fantasizing about Lu Xu sweeping all three major film awards and reaching the peak of the entertainment industry.
But before the hype could get out of hand, both Lu Xu and Feiyang Entertainment quickly released a statement.
They acknowledged the ongoing online discussions about Lu Xu and the Golden Flame Awards and reiterated:
Lu Xu would not participate in Golden Flame nominations.
Lu Xu would not attend any Golden Flame-related events.
He simply didn’t care about completing the so-called “Big Three” award sweep.
[So badass!!!]
[…Actually, last year, the Golden Flame Awards had a ‘tribute to classic films’ segment. For one second, they showed a clip from Fearless Life, and people took it as a sign that the committee was trying to reconcile with director Miao Zhi and Lu Xu. But neither of them responded. Everyone thought the Golden Flame Awards had ‘made peace’ with them, but in reality, it was just the committee’s one-sided attempt to repair their reputation and win back audiences.]
