Thám Tử Kiên – Kỳ Án Không Đầu (Detective Kiên – the Headless Horror), a project to celebrate Vietnamese–American director Victor Vũ’s 20 years in the industry, is now being screened at over 200 international theatres. Photo courtesy of Galaxy Studio

HCM CITY — Thám Tử Kiên – Kỳ Án Không Đầu (Detective Kiên – the Headless Horror), a period horror thriller mystery movie by Vietnamese-American director Victor Vũ, is now being screened at over 200 international theatres.

The movie, distributed internationally by 3388 Films production and distribution company, is available at theatres in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland, according to the director.

The production will be released in France on June 7 and in Bulgaria on June 8, and later in Japan and Thailand.

Thám Tử Kiên – Kỳ Án Không Đầu, which is inspired by Hồ Oán Hận (Resentment Lake), a detective story by writer Hồng Thái, is Vũ’s 18th production to celebrate his 20 years in the industry.

The movie is set under the Nguyễn Dynasty in the 19th century. It revolves around detective Kiên, who is called to a haunted village to investigate a mysterious disappearance. The missing person is Nga, the niece of Hai Mẫn.

The film stars Quốc Huy as Kiên and Đinh Ngọc Diệp as Hai Mẫn. Both were featured in Vũ’s movie Người Vợ Cuối Cùng (The Last Wife), released in 2023, about a young woman living in a poor family in the semi-feudal colonial society of Việt Nam.

Thám Tử Kiên – Kỳ Án Không Đầu has earned more than VNĐ244 billion (US$8.66 million) since it was released on April 30, according to Box Office Vietnam – an independent box office monitoring unit.

Vũ, a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in the US, is known for the films Scandal and Thiên Mệnh Anh Hùng (Blood Letter) released in 2012, Tôi Thấy Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh (Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass) in 2015, and Mắt Biếc (Dreamy Eyes) in 2019.

His blockbusters Tôi Thấy Hoa Vàng Trên Cỏ Xanh and Mắt Biếc were selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the Vietnamese entries for the Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards in 2017 and 2020.

Both films are adapted from novels with the same names by best-selling author Nguyễn Nhật Ánh.

Vũ’s 2021 horror movie Thiên Thần Hộ Mệnh (The Guardian) was distributed in cinemas in 12 countries, such as Australia, Canada, Hungary, France, Ireland, the UK and the US. 

In 2022, Vũ released his TV thriller series Trại Hoa Đỏ (Red Flowers Farm) in collaboration with American director of photography Dominic Pereira and composer and music producer Garrett Crosby.

Thám Tử Kiên – Kỳ Án Không Đầu is still being screened at cinemas in Việt Nam. — VNS