Jailbait beat Marvel's Guardians in box office records Vietnam
Local movie Jailbait (Em chua 18) smashed all expectations and dominated theaters in Vietnam during the holiday weekend.
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![]() A scene in Em chua 18.
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Opening on April 28, the rom-com about a school girl and her scandalous love story with a much older man has racked up VND86 billion ($3.78 million), local media reported. It stars Kaity Nguyen, a 18 year-old newcomer who has stunned critics and fans with her impressive acting skills.
The film is likely to hit the VND100 billion mark in ticket sales soon, which means it will also dethrone the current champion Em la ba noi cua anh (Sweet 20), a rom-com released last year.
Em chua 18 - a film of director Le Thanh Son, is rated C16 as it is deemed suitable for mature audiences only. According to the film database IMDB, its more provoking English name for the U.S. market is Jailbait. Director Le Thanh Son says his film comes with a message: Vietnamese parents should be more open with their teenage children.
Family-friendly “Guardians of the Galaxy” did well around the world but could not defeat Em chua 18 power. The latest from Disney and Marvel made more than $106 million in its first weekend at 58 percent of overseas territories, Variety reported on Wednesday.
The movie is directed by Le Thanh Son of Bay Rong (Clash) fame, and De Mai Tinh (Feel For Love) filmmaker Charlie Nguyen. A romantic comedy, Em chua 18 is a love triangle involving high school student Linh Dan, her boyfriend Tony and a Sai Gon playboy Hoang.
Linh Dan is in a relationship with Tony, a handsome sportsman who is every girl’s dream, including Yen. Trouble begins when Linh Dan spots Tony kissing Yen at a school party and decides to make him feel jealous and hurt for cheating and losing a girl like her.
She dresses up sexily to woo Hoang, has a one-night stand with him and then blackmails him into pretending to be her boyfriend under the threat that otherwise she would make public their sex video, which will get him into trouble as she is under 18.
The movie stars new actors Kieu Minh Tuan (Hoang), Tony (Will from 365 music band), Chau Bui (Yen) and Kaity Nguyen (Linh Dan), who is 18 years old and moved to the US when she was 10. She is known for her online beauty videos and has no previous acting experience.
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15:33, 2025/02/24
Lacquer painting exhibition celebrates Hanoi artists
The painting exhibition is a tribute to three decades of paintings by the renowned Vietnamese couple of artists, Trinh Tuan and Cong Kim Hoa.
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18:07, 2025/02/22
Vietnam heritage painting contest launched
The international painting contest "Brilliant Vietnam" seeks to celebrate Vietnam's rich traditions and values by spotlighting the country's intangible cultural heritage and involving both the expatriate Vietnamese community and the public from other countries.
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15:35, 2025/02/20
Vietnamese lacquer: Traditional artistry meets modern innovation
Born in the early 20th century, Vietnamese lacquer art has evolved through time and artistic changes but remains a vital element of the country's fine arts today.
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15:53, 2025/02/19
Indochina fine arts heritage in the heart of Hanoi
The artistic consciousness of Vietnamese artists was awakened by the Indochina School of Fine Arts in Hanoi, and Vietnamese fine arts evolved in tandem with modern nationalism to become more globally integrated.
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20:50, 2025/02/18
Da Sy Blacksmith Village - a fascinating destination for traditional craft enthusiasts
Famous for its handcrafted knives and scissors, Da Sy Blacksmith Village in Hanoi offers visitors a unique glimpse into Vietnam's traditional metalsmith craft.
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15:19, 2025/02/17
Three prominent Vietnamese painters spotlighted in Paris exhibition
For the first time, a special collection at the Musée Cernuschi in Paris pays tribute to Le Pho (1907-2001), Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980), and Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000) through works on display until May 4.
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