AI-powered films are advancing rapidly, with China’s “Journey to the West: The Sequel” airing on Hunan TV as the first Chinese television series produced entirely using AI, without actors or real-life settings, at about $13,400 per episode, less than one-tenth the cost of traditional animated or live-action films. According to DataEye, over 221,900 new AI short films were released across Chinese social media platforms in the first half of 2026, though only a very small fraction went viral. Vietnamese social media has also seen a wave of AI-powered films on TikTok, Facebook Reels, and YouTube Shorts, featuring beautiful characters and eye-catching visuals. Master Tran Minh Ngan, a lecturer in the Music, Theater & Film Department at Van Lang University, said such content manipulates audience psychology through emotional triggers—oppression, frustration, anticipation of a counterattack, and satisfaction when the villain is punished—borrowing from the ancient Greek concept of Catharsis.