On September 19, 2025, the highly promoted anti-Japanese movie “731” by the Chinese Communist Party premiered with box office sales exceeding 300 million yuan on the first day. Despite the impressive box office numbers, the film received extensive criticism and ridicule, being labeled as a “flop”. The controversy surrounding the mysterious death of actor Yu Menglong has sparked strong reactions online, leading many netizens to collectively boycott “731” on platforms like Maoyan, criticizing it for its failure to acknowledge present-day hardships while exploiting historical suffering.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of China’s victory in the War of Resistance against Japan. The CCP chose the date of September 18 to release the film “731”, set against the backdrop of the Japanese biological warfare unit. Through official political manipulation, the film set a record of grossing over 300 million yuan on its first day. However, discussions on various movie review platforms revealed a mix of praise from CCP internet users and criticism labeling the film as a “flop”.
Many mainland Chinese netizens gave the film one or two stars, citing poor directorial skills, messy storytelling, and a lackluster production quality reminiscent of an online drama. They pointed out unreasonable plot points, continuity errors, and numerous elements that elicited laughter, turning a serious historical subject into a “jailbreak light comedy”. Some audience members even reported continuous laughter in theaters while watching the film.
Negative ratings and critical comments were swiftly deleted, sparking concerns of censorship. Reports from the Hong Kong newspaper “Ming Pao” on the 19th echoed the sentiment of poor directing akin to mainland web dramas.
Just a week before on September 11, actor Yu Menglong tragically fell to his death in Beijing, leading to public dissatisfaction with the official handling of the incident. On September 17, a large number of netizens boycotted “731” on Maoyan platform, criticizing the film for trivializing historical suffering at the cost of ignoring current realities, with remarks such as “reality is scarier than the movie” and “when public figures can die under mysterious circumstances, regular people are in even greater danger”.
The comment section was flooded with phrases like “even a sturdy umbrella will break in stronger wind”.
Netizens began sharing a fictional movie poster for “The Disappearance of Him in Jingcheng, premiering on September 11”, indirectly referencing the mysterious death of Yu Menglong in Beijing and alluding to the star’s silence in the face of adversity. Speculations about an alleged scandal involving Yu Menglong being manipulated by insiders and silenced for reasons related to sexual assault and murder circulated online, though authorities’ silence on the matter made it difficult to verify these claims, fueling ongoing public demand for truth.
A user with the handle “Today in Australia” shared a recording of the collective boycott of “731” in response to the Yu Menglong incident, triggering discussions among overseas netizens.
Commentary highlighted the party’s incitement of hatred while remaining silent on real-world events, using distorted patriotic education to deflect attention. Questions were raised regarding why the director avoids depicting atrocities like the extermination of Jiangdong’s 64 villages, with accusations that hatred is deliberately directed towards Japan to align with the ruling class’s interests. Due to involvement of high-ranking officials, discussions on such matters are often censored.
Some netizens debated the conflicting reports on the film’s box office success and the subsequent boycott, attributing the high box office figures to extensive free ticket distribution and possible mandatory screenings for Communist Party members.