Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

Some stories do not touch audiences with events, but with what remains after those events: a letter that never arrived in full, a name that carries weight, a promise left open. Dear You begins in these remnants, and slowly expands them into something larger than memory.

Released on April 30, Dear You has a score of 9.1/10 after 190,000 reviews on Chinese review platform Douban, making it not only the best-reviewed film of the May Day holidays but also the highest-rated domestic film so far this year. As of Monday, the film, made on a modest budget of 14 million yuan ($2.06 million) and featuring no star actors, has grossed more than 140 million yuan at the box office.

The film moves between two timelines with little emphasis on transition. One follows a present-day search; the other returns to the 1940s, when grandfather Zheng Musheng leaves his coastal hometown in the Chaoshan region, mainly including Chaozhou and Shantou cities in South China's Guangdong Province, to work in Southeast Asia to avoid conscription by the Kuomintang. 

During his time in Malaysia and Thailand, he works hard and continues to send qiaopi letters, short messages often accompanied by small sums of money, back home. 

However, Zheng dies before he can return home. Rather than ending the correspondence, a woman in his migrant community in Thailand, Xie Nanzhi, out of gratitude for Zheng's kindness and sympathy for his helpless family back home, chooses to continue it in his name, sending money and writing letters to Zheng's family for decades to quietly support their livelihoods and keep the overseas connection alive.

Shi Wenxue, a veteran critic, told the Global Times that the film's success mainly lies in its focus on four core elements: storytelling, performances, narrative restraint and cultural depth. Word of mouth, rather than heavy marketing, became the film's main driver of popularity, signaling the growing importance of audience-driven promotion for sustained box-office performance. Shi said the modest production stood out for its sincerity, "reaffirming that strong storytelling and genuine creative intent remain the most powerful factors in connecting with audiences."

Centered on the historical qiaopi letters and featuring an entirely non-famous cast, the film achieves a strong sense of realism through its understated performances and everyday details. Its restrained approach, marked by subtle emotion and quiet pacing, allows feelings to develop gradually. 

The presence of Chaoshan dialect and local traditions adds warmth and authenticity, strengthening a collective sense of family and nation that strikes a deep emotional chord. The film's narrative perspective comes from within the family, and its emotional strength lies in its authentic portrayal of everyday life in Chaoshan.

Qiaopi, comprising a letter and a remittance certificate, served as a bond between Chinese emigrants and their families back home. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many of those emigrants, particularly from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, sent money home to support their families and to let their loved ones know that they were safe. In 2013, Qiaopi and Yinxin Correspondence and Remittance Documents from Overseas Chinese were included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

Dear You tells the story of these cross-border experiences, reflecting a deeply rooted sense of duty and resilience often associated with Chinese identity, director Lan Hongchun said in an opinion piece published on the People's Daily. "We hope audiences will recognize a form of solidarity that extends beyond blood ties and national boundaries, shaped by shared experience and mutual care across generations."

The film captures the experience of a generation of Chaoshan migrants who left home to seek a living overseas. In moments of hardship and uncertainty, letters exchanged with family became an emotional lifeline. Often written by others on behalf of the migrants, these letters were usually brief, opening with formal greetings before moving quickly to practical updates. Yet within just a few lines, they carried deep affection and longing.

In history, qiaopi remittance letters also played a significant role in supporting China during times of hardship. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia donated money and supplies, and some even returned to China to join the fight, with qiaopi serving as an important channel of support. 

From sending money to support families to preserving cultural roots through Chinese-language education and further on to making full contributions during national crises, these actions follow a shared ethical logic: The family as the smallest unit of the nation, the nation as an extension of countless families, and a sense of duty and care that begins at home.

Overseas Chinese communities have long maintained a strong sense of cultural identity, preserving ties to their homeland, their traditions and a commitment to mutual care. Dear You pays tribute to these ordinary yet remarkable migrants. The film is presented as a letter to overseas Chinese communities and to the homeland itself, as well as a reflection on the shared cultural and emotional heritage of the Chinese people.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn