Los Angeles – September 22, 2026 -- "Chrysalis," a U.S.-Vietnam family drama inspired by artist Sir Daniel K. Winn's childhood, opened in Vietnam on Sept. 11 to positive reviews from critics and audiences ahead of its planned April 2027 U.S. premiere, presented by the Beverly Hills Film Festival.
Vietnamese critics praised the film's restrained, emotional performances
ELLE Vietnam highlighted the conviction of the grandmother-grandson dynamic between veteran actress Kieu Chinh and young performer Uy Nhan. Harper's Bazaar Vietnam wrote that the film's first theatrical screening left a lasting impression through its understated treatment of family, roots and intergenerational memory.
The film scored an 8.2 average from 211 ticket-holder reviews during its opening week
Ratings came from MoMo, a Vietnamese ticketing platform. A Sept. 11 Kenh14 report, citing Box Office Vietnam data, placed the film at No. 4 in a daily box-office snapshot.
The story follows a boy's coming-of-age in 1975 Saigon
Directed by J. Robert Schulz from a screenplay by Andrew Creme, "Chrysalis" centers on young Daniel's bond with his grandmother, Bà Nội, played by Kieu Chinh. Uy Nhan portrays Daniel as a child, while Winn appears in present-day sequences. The cast also includes Samuel An, Lan Thy, Le Anh Huy, Tien Pham and Trinh Tu Trung.
Vietnam saw the film first under a different title
WS Productions arranged a special, limited theatrical run in Vietnam, letting audiences in the country that shaped Winn's early life see the film before its U.S. release. It opened locally as "Mãi Nợ Một Lời Tạm Biệt" ("The Farewell I Never Gave"), while its international title remains "Chrysalis."
The film has already collected festival honors
"Chrysalis" debuted at the 2026 Marché du Film in Cannes with two market screenings. At DANAFF IV, Kieu Chinh received the Screen Excellence Merit Award for a screen career spanning nearly seven decades and more than 100 roles. At the Los Angeles Tribune International Film Festival, the film won five honors: Best Feature Film, Best Director for Schulz, Best Actress for Kieu Chinh, Best Child Actor for nine-year-old Uy Nhan, and Best Orchestral Score for composer Elia Cmiral. Uy Nhan became LATIFF's inaugural Best Child Actor winner and one of the youngest documented Vietnamese recipients of a U.S. film-festival acting award.
The U.S. premiere will land on a symbolic anniversary
The April 2027 U.S. premiere, presented by the Beverly Hills Film Festival, will coincide with the 52nd anniversary of the end of the war in Vietnam, introducing the film's story of family, displacement and remembrance to U.S. audiences.