After Defying the System, I Became a Genius Director

Looking at these critical posts, Cat Mint’s eyes lit up, thinking she might have found the target for her next column!

Looking at the film’s name—”The Last Wish,” a completely unheard-of movie, meeting her column’s requirements;

Numerous critique posts—indicating serious issues, perfect for entertaining readers with sarcasm;

High post activity—suggesting audience disagreement about whether the film was truly bad, possibly offering some highlights amid the criticism.

However, she wasn’t yet ready to hastily judge the film as terrible, since paid reviewers weren’t uncommon in film circles—perhaps this was a competitor trying to smear it? With this thought, she clicked into the threads to observe their content.

After browsing these posts, she discovered something interesting.

The criticisms were remarkably consistent, either claiming the female lead’s acting was eye-searing, complaining about shoddy production and shaky camerawork, or saying the plot wasn’t exciting enough to deserve being called a horror film.

But comments defending the film were diverse, expressing all kinds of opinions, with some comments making it difficult to determine whether they came from fans or critics.

Some viewers believed the female lead’s stiff acting was intentional, claiming those who criticized her performance hadn’t understood the foreshadowing and plot;

Some viewers felt the shaky camera was meant to create an atmosphere, and anyway, as you watched, you eventually forgot the camera was shaking—it wasn’t distracting;

Some viewers thought labeling this film as horror was the distributor’s mistake, insisting it was actually a deeply moving love story—followed by other viewers who had seen it contradicting with “it’s clearly a comedy,” “isn’t it sci-fi?” “what are you talking about, it’s obviously a suspense film,” “here’s an honest person, let’s all laugh at them”…

Yet whether fans or critics, they reached complete consensus regarding the end credits music—it was truly terrible, and the band must have connections.

Although each negative thread contained one or two loyal fans of the film earnestly rebutting the criticisms, for some reason, the film’s detractors were like an endless river, seemingly ignoring explanations and repeating the same few criticisms, leaving those few unfortunate loyal fans drowned in the sea of comments, appearing particularly outnumbered.

Of course, the most active participants in these threads were neither the film’s critics nor its faithful supporters, but curious onlookers…

Because they had never heard of this film!

With no noteworthy films to discuss recently, and the only relatively high-profile xianxia film having clichéd plots and exaggerated acting, where even the leads’ only strength—their appearance—was completely ruined by cheap-looking costumes and makeup, with only fans struggling to defend it, a group of restless forum users were already speculating about films six months ahead during the Spring Festival. Desperate for new topics, they naturally rushed into what appeared to be an active discussion thread.

Then they discovered they had never heard of the film being discussed (criticized) so enthusiastically!

This was a dedicated film forum! Every member was a film enthusiast who kept up with all new film trailers! Yet among these trailer-watching enthusiasts, not a single one had seen the trailer for this film! Even among those who had actually watched the film and were posting in the thread, most said they “happened to notice this film at the cinema,” “bought tickets just to kill time,” or “hadn’t heard any promotion for this film before entering the theater”…

This piqued the curiosity of the bored forum members.

With nothing better to do, these entertainment-seeking film enthusiasts curiously searched for this film called “The Last Wish,” and were shocked to discover it had absolutely no promotion! The entire film team consisted of just two people, plus a band, and a mentor who was specially thanked for some reason! The screening rate and box office were practically zero!

Since there was no promotion, the origin of these genuinely passionate viewers became quite perplexing.

Some forum members believed the film must have offended its distributor to be treated so coldly and even maliciously reviewed after release; a small portion thought this might be reverse hype, which they absolutely wouldn’t fall for; while others felt it had nothing to do with paid reviewers—the film probably just had many criticizable points, with some even becoming interested in seeing for themselves just how extraordinary it was.

Amid these varying attitudes, only the negative reviewers continued their diligent work.

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

Cat Mint closed the critique threads and fell into contemplation.

She didn’t really care whether the critics were paid reviewers; what she truly cared about was—was this film worth featuring in her column?

From what she could see, the film had polarized reviews and few viewers; whether it turned out to be a hidden gem or a flop, it would make suitable material. With this in mind, Cat Mint opened a movie app and began searching for appropriate showtimes at nearby theaters. Fortunately, despite the film’s low screening allocation, a small theater about a kilometer from her home had an evening showing with about a dozen viewers and several empty seats. Cat Mint quickly booked a ticket.

Putting down her phone, Cat Mint took a deep breath. For some reason, she had a feeling that if she could seize this opportunity, this film might become a turning point for her “Searching the Film Sea” column!

She knew her biggest problem wasn’t the column’s content, but how to successfully integrate her two audiences with different needs.

Lately, she had been vaguely sensing her audience splitting into two groups with different desires:

One group wanted the column to recommend genuinely good films and followed Cat Mint’s account to discover buried niche gems;

The other group only wanted to see the column criticize films’ flaws and awaited weekly updates for light entertainment.

Since her account occasionally accepted advertisements to make money, Cat Mint naturally tried to please both groups to increase her followers. But recently, she had been feeling overwhelmed. No matter which type of content she published, the comments section would always have dissatisfied followers from the other group, some even explicitly threatening to unfollow.

Was there a way for these two groups to coexist? Could she help followers who only wanted to discover niche gems also enjoy the fun of criticism, while enabling those who only wanted criticism to learn about good films too?

Cat Mint had made previous attempts but ultimately failed.

This time, however, she seemed to see a glimmer of possibility.

Perhaps… this film could help her find a balance between these approaches!

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

Morning of the third day after the film’s release.

Shao Yichen’s hand trembled slightly as she opened the box office statistics page.

After issuing tasks to the paid reviewers yesterday, to avoid lying awake at night, she had immediately gone to bed.

Unexpectedly, she had a dream that very night: she was happily playing games when suddenly a group of reporters burst into her small dorm room, fervently claiming to be fans of her film, congratulating her on its commercial success, and hoping she would grant them an interview to explain the secret behind the film’s viral popularity.

This nightmare was so terrifying that Shao Yichen woke up immediately, checked her phone to find it was only six in the morning, four or five hours earlier than her usual wake-up time.

But once awake, she found it difficult to fall back asleep, and with the nightmare’s content still swirling in her mind, giving her an ominous premonition, she not only didn’t go back to sleep but anxiously opened the film’s box office statistics page.

The box office results were prominent: 690,000 yuan and some change.

At first glance, Shao Yichen sighed in relief—not that much after all.

But looking more carefully, she realized something was wrong.

Why was the box office increasing rather than decreasing?

The first day of the film’s release was Sunday, with a box office of 500,000 yuan. With the combined effects of a weekend and opening day, the box office was only this much, so Shao Yichen had estimated this would probably be the film’s highest daily average.

But unexpectedly, on the second day of release, despite the double disadvantage of a weekday and no longer being the opening day, the box office not only didn’t plummet but actually increased by nearly 200,000 yuan!

Shao Yichen racked her brains but couldn’t understand what was happening. She tried to comfort herself, thinking perhaps the box office statistics page had crashed and was displaying total box office data; however, when she scrolled down to check other figures, she saw an even more shocking fact.

“The Last Wish” had quietly increased its screening allocation to over 4%!

What was going on?

Shao Yichen thought desperately but couldn’t come up with an explanation. Just as she was wracking her brain, she suddenly noticed an automatic review notification pop up on the movie app.

“‘Path to Immortal Ascension’ After Three Days: Poor Box Office Suggests Difficulty Recouping Costs—Aesthetic Fatigue with Xianxia Films or Simply Mediocre Quality?”

Shao Yichen felt the name was familiar and after pondering for a while, finally recalled where she had seen it.

—Wasn’t this the name of the film that had been at the top of the box office statistics website every time she checked, with runaway box office figures?

Shao Yichen had a sudden realization, convinced she had found the reason for her film’s increased revenue.

It wasn’t because her film wasn’t bad, but because the concurrent releases were also bad!

And the answer to “The Last Wish” increased screening allocation naturally followed—since “Path to Immortal Ascension” reduced its screenings, other concurrent films naturally had to absorb some of its allocation, with “The Last Wish” being an innocent bystander.

Shao Yichen beat her chest in regret. If only she had known earlier, she wouldn’t have wasted time on editing and would have released sooner, perfectly avoiding this sabotaging teammate!

She thought with exasperation: “Path to Immortal Ascension,” why did you have to be such a terrible film?

Author’s Note: Shao Yichen: What’s going on with this concurrent film!

Author: You will encounter countless teammates like “Path to Immortal Ascension” on your future path, believe me, you’ll get used to it.

Shao Yichen: ?