It’s so bad, it’s become a box office hit.

Niu Lai, a low-budget animation film about a cow in a dream sequence has seen a huge jump in ticket sales after going viral for its confusing plot and terrible graphics.

It grossed just 7,705 yuan ($1,140; £843) in the first 10 days after its release, but has now made more than 11.4 million yuan, according to movie tracking site Mao Yan. That means it is holding ground against Hollywood blockbusters like The Odyssey and Spider Man: Brand New Day.

“You may regret for 80 minutes if you watch it, but if you don’t, you’ll regret it for life,” one popular social media post about the film said.

Other social media users have hailed the movie as the antidote to the AI slop that is taking over social media algorithms.

They are sharing clips praising Niu Lai’s “hand-crafted” method – a reference to the poor animation quality – as “proof” that its creators did not use AI.

“That’s some serious craftsmanship,” a Weibo user wrote.

Another social media user called it “pure handmade” and the biggest “dark horse” of the summer movie season.

Others say they are rooting for the movie because they desperately hope for a “bullish” stock market.

“If the index reaches 4,000 tomorrow I will go to the cinema to support this movie,” one Weibo user wrote.

“It is a terrible movie but has a great name,” another comment linking the movie to stock investments said.

Niu Lai was a low-budget, lowkey production from the outset, and had received almost no publicity before its release earlier this month.

But now it has proved so popular that cinemas have added screenings of the film in response to the soaring demand.

“This record is unprecedented and will likely remain so,” a Weibo account dedicated to tracking movies noted.

But not everyone is celebrating its unexpected success. Over the weekend, a commentary by state-owned Beijing News warned that cinemas risk “losing the trust” of viewers if they “continue to lower their standard” with additional screenings of Niu Lai.

Mentioning previous movies that had been mocked for poor quality, Niu Lai has “once again lowered the bar for audiences’ expectations of poorly made films”, reads a commentary by state-owned Beijing News.

It urged cinemas to “act as gatekeepers for the audience, and clearly reject films that are obviously not up to standard instead of letting films like Niu Lai run rampant”.