Not only creating a strong social effect, in 2025, many works also continuously set revenue records, bringing the market share of Vietnamese films to surpass foreign films right at home. Notably, the historical - war - revolutionary film genre, which was once considered to be picky about audiences, has risen to hold the central position of the domestic film market.
Box office breakthrough, Vietnamese films dominate the market
Overall, 2025 is one of the strongest growing years for Vietnamese cinema since the Covid-19 pandemic. Total box office revenue across the market reached approximately 6.14 trillion VND, of which Vietnamese films accounted for more than 60% of the market share - an unprecedented high. Domestic film revenue exceeded the 3,000-3,600 billion VND mark, nearly double that of 2024.
Top 10 highest-grossing Vietnamese films of the year brought in more than 2,700 billion VND, with many works exceeding the 200-300 billion VND mark. This shows that the breakthrough is no longer an isolated phenomenon, but reflects the substantial expansion of the market and the increasingly clear theater-going habits of domestic audiences.
The most prominent symbol of Vietnamese cinema in 2025 is "Red Rain". With 714 billion VND in revenue and more than 8.3 million viewers, the film not only set a box office record but also created a rare social life.
After leaving theaters, "Red Rain" continues to be screened for free on digital platforms and organized mobile screenings in many localities, serving a large audience. The decision to withdraw the film from theaters when its appeal is still high to "nationalize" the work is considered an unprecedented step.
Notably, "Red Rain" is not a purely entertainment film but belongs to the historical - war - revolution genre. Not only this work, the three leading box office films in 2025 including "Red Rain", "Death Battle in the Air" and "Geological Tunnels: Sun in the Dark" are all belonging to the group of topics that were once considered "hard to sell tickets for". This is the first time in the history of Vietnamese cinema that the political - historical film genre has dominated the revenue chart.
That success shows that Vietnamese audiences, especially young people, are willing to welcome large-scale works, as long as they are made meticulously, truthfully and attractively. Many experts believe that the growth momentum in 2025 has brought Vietnam into the group of fast-recovering film markets with impressive growth after the pandemic, while creating a vibrant creative atmosphere in the film industry.
Deep differentiation and the sustainable development problem
Along with the bumper harvest picture, 2025 also clearly reveals the increasingly fierce differentiation of the market. Most of the revenue focuses on a few films with advantages in brand, distribution system and media. Meanwhile, many other works - including films that are seriously invested in content and art - have a short theatrical lifespan, low revenue and quickly leave theaters.
Cases like "Quan Ky Nam", "Rain on the Butterfly" or some art films that were highly appreciated at international film festivals but only grossed a few billion, even hundreds of millions of VND domestically, continue to pose a familiar paradox: good films are not necessarily winning. The almost absolute dependence on the commercial cinema system, along with the absence of alternative popular channels, makes many valuable works difficult to reach the general public.
In the opposite direction, many commercial films still operate according to the familiar formula, prioritizing immediate communication and emotional effects rather than investing in the depth of cinematic language. In the long term, this trend potentially undermines the motivation for innovation and narrows the development space of cinema as a form of art.
2025 also recorded a relative change in the market. "Revenue guarantee" directors such as Tran Thanh, Ly Hai, Thu Trang or Victor Vu still play an important role, but are no longer in an invincible position. Audiences are increasingly demanding, willing to turn their backs on repetitive, depth-deprived products, even though familiar names are behind them.
From the contrasting winning and losing picture of 2025, it can be seen that Vietnamese cinema is entering a selective stage. Revenue growth is a necessary condition, but not enough to ensure sustainable development. A healthy market cannot only rely on a few box office bright spots, but needs to create space for genre diversity, for artistic exploration and for the new generation of filmmakers.
2025 can therefore be considered a pivotal year for Vietnamese cinema: both establishing the belief that Vietnamese films are strong enough to win big at home, and posing an urgent requirement to restructure the market, balancing between commerce and art. Solving this problem will determine whether Vietnamese cinema stops at short-term records or goes further on the path to becoming a sustainable and unique creative industry.
