HCM CITY — Vietnamese filmmakers have revealed a diverse movie line-up ranging from thrillers to comedies for the upcoming holiday to celebrate Hùng Kings’ Commemoration (April 27) and National Reunification (April 30).

Producer Charlie Nguyễn will join the holiday season with a dark comedy, Đại Tiệc Trăng Máu 8 (Blood Moon Rite 8), a remake of the 2017 critically acclaimed Japanese comedy film One Cut of the Dead.

Directed by Phan Gia Nhật Linh, the film becomes one of the most anticipated productions in the holiday season since its first teaser was released last December.

The movie portrays an often-underestimated director facing the most challenging project of his life: making a 35-minute film in one single take.

He must succeed because completing the film is his last chance to win back respect from his art-loving daughter. However, a series of hilariously chaotic situations unfold as the cast constantly causes outrageous mishaps.

Director Linh said at the movie's showcase in HCM City that Đại Tiệc Trăng Máu 8 marked his comeback after his last film was released four years ago, so he expected the audience to feel his love for the project.

Linh said, “I like to bring the audience a new dish but still be appetising. It is packed with intriguing details so that the audience can both be entertained and laugh out loud.

“However, the project is also an ultimate challenge to me.”

The movie will open with the longest one-take in the history of Việt Nam film industry, lasting 35 minutes. The shooting required high-intense concentration from every staff member and the cast.

Linh also expressed his pressure working with the cast, including professionals whom he has worked with for over 10 years and new faces who had never been in the industry.

The movie stars Vân Sơn, Miu Lê, Hồng Ánh, Lê Khánh, Hứa Vĩ Văn, and Liên Bỉnh Phát, the first Vietnamese actor named Best Leading Actor at the 60th Golden Bell Awards, one of the most prestigious film awards in Taiwan (China).

Hồng Ánh, who began her acting career in 1995, hoped the movie would surprise the audience in the theatre during the holiday.

Linh began his career as a film critic. He got a scholarship in film offered by the Ford Foundation at the University of Southern California in 2006.          

He released his first comedy film, Em Là Bà Nội Của Anh (Sweet 20), in 2015.

His films include Cô Gái Đến Từ Hôm Qua (The Girl from Yesterday) in 2017, Trạng Tí (Child Master) in 2020, and Em và Trịnh (You and Trịnh), a production on the late famous songwriter Trịnh Công Sơn, in 2022.

Đại Tiệc Trăng Máu 8 is set to release on April 24.

Folk tale

The couple of producer Thanh Thúy and director Đức Thịnh will make a comeback after a six-year break with a new project called Trùm Sò (The Grand Miser).

The fantasy comedy is inspired by Nghêu Sò Ốc Hến (The Stories of the Clam, Oyster, Snail, and Mussel), one of the masterpieces of Vietnamese folk comedy theatre, depicting a rural Vietnamese area under feudalism on the decline.

The play has been staged in various forms such as tuồng (classical opera), chèo (traditional opera), cải lương (reformed opera) and drama.

Director Thịnh, who is also the film’s co-scriptwriter together with Hồ Hải and plays the leading role, said, “The life of Trùm Sò, who is obsessed with money, gave me a huge inspiration. The stories about him provide me enough material to make a movie.”

Trùm Sò revolves around a miser named Trùm Sò (Oyster) in a remote village. One day, he lost a large amount of gold and set out to recover it.

He is accompanied by his childhood friends, Thị Hến (Mussel), a beautiful widow, and Tôm Hùm (Lobster), a wanderer. However, all of them are caught up in a shocking robbery.

Thịnh invited Miss World Vietnam 2022 Huỳnh Nguyễn Mai Phương to play Thị Hến and Phương Nam as Tôm Hùm.

Nam, who won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 24th Việt Nam Film Festival in 2025, said he was captivated by the character, a wanderer with deep and colourful life experiences that helped him easily connect with the role.

Thịnh and Thúy are known for their works based on Vietnamese folk tales. Their movie Trạng Quỳnh (Dr Quỳnh) was a box office success in 2019. It is about the cunning tricks of Nguyễn Quỳnh, a scholar of Thanh Hóa Province living under the Lê-Trịnh reign between 1696 and 1718.

Trùm Sò is scheduled for release on April 24.

The selection for the holiday season will include the family drama Anh Hùng (Mr Hero), and two horror films, Phí Phong: Quỷ Máu Rừng Thiên (The Blood Demon) and Heo Năm Móng (The Five-Clawed Pig), which will offer rich experiences in genre and content to entertain moviegoers nationwide.

All the productions will be in cinemas on April 24 as well. — VNS