DEAR YOU - Second Highest Grossing Film in China

DEAR YOU (Chinese: 给阿嬷的情书) is a 2026 Chinese family drama film directed and co-written by Lan Hongchun. It stars Li Sitong, Wang Yantong, Wu Shaoqing, Zheng Runqi and Wang Xiaohui; Thai actress Usha Seamkhum also appears in the film. Spoken primarily in Teochew, a dialect from the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong, the film employs qiaopi letters as a narrative thread to tell the story of a grandson of a grandmother who embarks on a journey to Thailand in search of the grandfather. The film achieved significant commercial success in China becoming the second highest grossing film of the year.

DEAR YOU 2026 (image1)

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The Plot

Ye Shurou (Iap Sok-jiu), a traditional grandmother, lived a peaceful and simple life in Shantou, China, content to spent her twilight years surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Her husband, Zheng Musheng (Tenn Bak-seng), had fled to Southeast Asia during the Chinese Civil War to escape the army's forced conscription. The qiaopi (remittance letters) he sent home once provided for the family's living. However, a group photograph arrived, severing all contact. Rumors circulated within the family that the grandfather had remarried in Thailand, become a billionaire, and donated schools. To settle a massive debt, the grandson Xiaowei (Hiau-ui) secretly traveled to Thailand to search for his grandfather. He discovered that he had passed away in 1960. The person registered as paying respects to him was a strange woman named Xie Nanzhi (Tsia Nam-ki). Xiaowei eventually tracked down Nanzhi's son, Xie Zehua (Tsia Tsek-hua), who revealed Nanzhi's handwritten letter drafts, exposing the truth of the past.

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Reception

The film ranked fifth in its opening week and subsequently climbed to third place the following week. It then achieved remarkable success by topping the box office for three consecutive weeks in mainland China, spanning from Week 19 to Week 21. As of June 3, its box office earnings had surpassed ¥1.4 billion, securing the second position on the 2026 box office chart of the market, only behind Pegasus 3.

DEAR YOU 2026 (image3)
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