Fraudulent topics become a highlight of Vietnamese cinema in late 2025 and early 2026
Money Trap, released in November, is inspired by scams via phones, social networks and financial applications. The film revolves around the character Dang Thuc (Lien Binh Phat) who is caught up in a digital credit trap and led through the sophisticated chains of high-tech criminals. The work has a thrilling color, a bit of humor, both reflecting the current situation and warning viewers about the type of crime that is spreading.
Meanwhile, Blood Market - a project that attracted attention in the last months of 2025 focused on simulating a transnational scam ring, where victims were lured by offers for easy work with high salaries and then sold to fraud houses.
The film recreates the context of criminals appropriating assets online, how to train "employees" to successfully use fraud tools and the tragic consequences for both victims and victims of crime. The film stars Quang Tuan and Hoai Lam.
The common point of the series is that they all closely follow the current situation, reflecting the forms of fraud that exist in Vietnamese society: From impersonating state agencies, defrauding, defrauding money, to high-tech crimes and cross-border human trafficking.
The fact that directors are proactively entering the topics of survival - crime - fraud shows that Vietnamese cinema is shifting to thorny topics, reflecting life more directly.
Timely capture, novel content, investment production
First of all, the continuous appearance of a series of films about scams has brought a new breeze to Vietnamese cinema - which has long been familiar with comedy, love or family psychology. Exploiting existing concerns in society, these films quickly attract the attention of the audience by touching on the right hot issue: Online fraud, multi-level fraud, illegal labor lure, fake identities...
The new theme helps Vietnamese films expand their performance style: fast-paced film, many action, investigation, and chase segments; at the same time, creating opportunities for actors to exploit psychological depth when playing the role of victims or prisoners.
Investment is also a noteworthy point. "Money Traps" focus on carefully staging scenes of digital credit traps; "Blood paradise" creates a tense atmosphere with the setting of simulating fraud centers; "People's trafficking camp" spends time building criminal networks and escape journeys. These efforts show that the film crew wants to bring the audience closer to the alarming truth in society.
Another advantage is the value of community warnings. The series helps viewers identify criminal tricks, increase vigilance and better understand the sophisticated tricks that are making many people fall into a situation of being left penniless. In more depth, the works also question the responsibility of digital media, social media management and the psychological consequences of victims.
Challenges from the topic itself
Although it brings many advantages, exploiting fraud also poses many challenges for manufacturers.
First of all, this is a sensitive topic, touching real life, easily causing controversy if the description is inaccurate or to make the audience misunderstand that the film is exaggerated and suspenseful. Directors must consider between cinematic fiction and contemporary authenticity - a very thin line.
In addition, the investigation and survival film genre requires elaborate staging, complex set design and detailed research on criminal operations. If there is a lack of data or incorrect description of the process, the film will lose weight and be assessed as unconvincing.
Another problem is the psychological pressure on actors when playing characters who are tortured, scammed, sold abroad or face the risk of death.
In the end, this film genre will hardly achieve box office success if it lacks entertainment elements. Therefore, many teams are forced to balance between education and attractiveness, creating a big challenge in the storytelling process.
In the context of increasingly widespread high-tech fraud, the bold exploitation of this thematic area by Vietnamese cinema is a positive signal. The three films Money Trap, Blood Paradise and Human Trafficking Camp show the trend of filmmaking associated with the breath of the times, reflecting the concerns of contemporary society. And despite many challenges, this is still considered an expected direction for Vietnamese cinema in the coming years.
