iQIYI Launches Short-Form Suspense Drama Brand "Undercurrent Theater" to Advance Premium Genre Storytelling

A Slate of Premium Short-Form Suspense Titles Set to Roll Out

BEIJING, Aug. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 4, iQIYI, China's leading online entertainment platform, announced the launch of Undercurrent Theater – the industry's first dedicated horizontal short-form suspense drama brand.

Built on the creative heritage of its acclaimed long-form suspense brand Suspense Theater, Undercurrent Theater applies the same cinematic production standards and narrative discipline to a compact format: episodes of 10 to 25 minutes, presented in horizontal screen, tailored to the growing appetite for premium suspense content that fits seamlessly into modern viewing habits.

Anchored by the proposition "Beneath the currents, truth lies", Undercurrent Theater pursues hard truths about human nature with intensity and precision, delivering fast-paced, high-quality suspense in horizontal-screen short-form drama that offers audiences a genuinely differentiated premium viewing experience.

Undercurrent Theater's debut slate features three titles spanning crime investigation, classic IP revival, and suspense mystery. Now streaming on both iQIYI and iQIYI International, opening title "Dead of Winter" is a hard-hitting crime suspense drama rooted in social realism, set in a small northeastern Chinese city in the late 1990s, following two former friends – a community police officer and a criminal investigator – who reunite to crack a series of major criminal cases, ultimately exposing an eight-year family tragedy. Upcoming titles include "The VI Group of Fatal Case", which revives a beloved crime franchise through a fast-paced prequel, while "The Murder Truth" tackles the subject of serial crime through a layered blend of suspense, psychological investigation, and interconnected cases, methodically unraveling the truth behind 18 horrific cases.

The launch comes as short-form drama emerges as a consequential shift in Chinese entertainment. As the platform that pioneered the Theater mode and defined the premium suspense genre in China, iQIYI brings proven creative leadership to this new format. Audiences increasingly demand content that is both high in quality and fast in pace – a combination iQIYI has consistently delivered. "Rose Finch", a short-form drama blending folklore with scientific investigation, became a standout success in China, topping the short drama market for six consecutive days with a peak viewership share of 44%, according to Enlightent. These results establish short-form content as a critical growth driver alongside iQIYI's long-form slate.

Undercurrent Theater represents iQIYI's commitment to bringing the same creative discipline that defines its premium long-form storytelling to the short-form drama category. This launch marks a new phase of genre-driven, premium brand operation for domestic horizontal-screen short-form drama. Drawing on its proven expertise in content creation and market operations, iQIYI will continue to deepen its focus across vertical genre tracks and raise the bar for domestic drama production.

Contact: iQIYI Press, [email protected]

SOURCE iQIYI Inc.