Sohu reported that the light comedy historical drama "What's Next" by Vuong So Nhien and Thua Loi caused a fever as soon as it aired. On February 7, just one day after its release, the hotness of the film on the iQIYI platform surpassed the 8,500 mark, becoming the first film of the year of the platform to achieve this achievement on the 2nd day.
The movie premiered at noon on February 6th, after only 3 hours the hotness exceeded 6:00, ending the first day reaching a peak of 7,891, in the top 3 movies with the highest hot release in iQIYI history.
By 11 am on February 7, the official hotness surpassed 8,000 and continued to increase to 8,500 in the evening of the same day, helping "What's Next" officially join the main film group of the platform.
In terms of commercials, the film attracted 5 advertisements right from its broadcast, by episode 6 it increased to 6 advertisements, with the longest advertisement time per episode of 66 seconds, totaling 373 seconds, showing a high level of trust from brands.
Notably, the tyrant character Ha Hau Dam played by Thua Loi achieved more than 100 million views on its opening day, ranking first in the platform's character rankings. Meanwhile, Vuong So Nhien's love-like image of Duu Van Am recorded 9.4 billion interactions, making an important contribution to the spreading effect and the general heat of the film.
The outstanding attraction of the movie "What's Next" lies in the content of translating letters against the beaten path. The female lead Dữu Vãn Âm is a modern office worker, accidentally breaking into the palace novel and discovering that the violent soldier Hạ Hầu Đạm is also a space traveler, even coming to this world 16 years ago.
The identity recognition with the familiar English greeting "How are you?Fine, thank you!" (temporary translation: Are you well? I'm well, thank you) becomes a valuable detail, both funny and clearly depicting the loneliness of people lost in a strange world.
Another highlight of the film lies in bringing modern office thinking and language into the ancient court setting. Power plots decoded by Excel, KPI or office-style presentations, even discussed with hotpots, have turned the inherently tense court atmosphere into a humorous survival record of office workers. This gentle, witty shell makes the film easier to approach young audiences.
Hidden behind a gentle shell, "What's Next" still retains emotional depth. The relationship between two space-walking characters is built as mutual reliance and salvation between two souls from different worlds. The way the film places space-walking characters facing indigenous people also opens up reflections on fate, initiative and asks who is the "real character" in a world that is already written.
