As of Sunday, No More Bets has generated an impressive 1.6 billion yuan ($211 million), making it the latest sensation and an unexpected dark horse in the highly competitive summer box office season.

The film is about a Chinese programmer and a model who, enticed by the promise of high-paying jobs, find themselves trapped in a foreign country as prisoners of a ruthless gang, and forced into online gambling fraud.

Intricately woven with multiple storylines, the film also features actor Darren Wang as a graduate student who becomes entangled in the world of online gambling, depicting his downward spiral into an irreversible path.

The movie received a rating of 7.0 out of ten on Douban, one of China's most popular review aggregators. Many viewers have commented that it serves as a valuable cautionary tale, reminding them not to fall victim to cyber scams.

It marks the second directorial feature of emerging filmmaker Shen Ao, a Beijing native who graduated from the directing department at Beijing Film Academy. His debut directorial short film, The Opposite Shore, won an award at the 57th San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2009.

Shen's talent was further acknowledged when his short film, Tide and Wave, won the Best Short Film award in the youth section at the FIRST International Film Festival in 2011. This caught the attention of Ning Hao, one of the country's most renowned directors, leading to an opportunity to shoot his debut feature film, My Dear Liar.

Mostly drawing inspiration from real-life stories, Shen's movies often delve into the exploration of humanity's complexity, with a suspenseful tone. No More Bets continues to demonstrate his signature stylish cinematography.

From 2020 to 2021, Shen and his team conducted interviews with many victims and police officers who were involved in handling similar cases in foreign countries. Collaborating with two fellow writers, they co-wrote the script and filmed No More Bets in South China's Hainan province.

“Online scams have caused broken families and financial ruin. I believe it is necessary to turn this into a film to raise awareness among the public,” Shen tells China Daily about his impetus to helm the tale.

Reporter: Xu Fan