The description is a little off, but the trailer shows more of the plot. Li Yu Ran is a cold-hearted attorney that believes she can be happy and take care of herself without anyone's help. But after an accident, she is sent to a station that sends people to the afterlife. But, they made a mistake. Li Yu Ran has a LONG time before she is supposed to die, and the afterlife's Director needs time to correct the mistake and send her back. Apparently, it takes a lot of paperwork xD. But in the meantime, they also made another mistake. A housewife was admitted too early to the afterlife. The Director then asks Li Yu Ran to fill in for this housewife to take care of the family until they can send her back to her own life.
Plot holes, plot holes galore. While I was interested in this story, I'm not sure if some of the mechanics of body switching/ memory retention was explained well. But at the same time, this is a fantasy movie, so I guess I could let those things slide. Besides that, Kwai Lun Mei's acting was great. She was a little slapsticky in the beginning, but it toned way down from then onward. It was great to see how she was able to adapt to her new familiy and yet also keep her attorney badass version of herself. The story deals with how she warms up to each one of the family members.
The only real issues I had was some pacing issues. Sometimes, things would happen all of a sudden (eg. her son.... you'll see), just to bring in some conflict. I didn't understand how her memories worked and also the ending didn't really make sense, based on the rules that the Afterlife's Director had set. That may be another plot hole issue (alternate universes???). There's a chance that my issues could have been caused by translation issues (I watched this movie in an AMC theater with subtitles). Maybe my issues could be cleared up in a second viewing.
But the whole movie was heartwarming and cute. While not laugh out loud funny, it was able to keep a smile on my face. When the pacing was right, you really understood how each of the characters cared for each other. Kwai Lun Mei carried this movie. The parts with her and Chen Kun's character were also good. It is light on the romance, as only the later scenes with Chen Kun and Lun Mei involved any. If you have time for a movie to leave you feeling warm, fuzzy, and slightly confused, you should probably check out this movie.
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This review may contain spoilers
Was it Real? Does it matter?
8/10 is my rating for this 2017 Chinese comedy drama. Run time is 1 hour and 30 minutes. It is a remake of a 2015 South Korean movie entitled "Wonderful Nightmare."Review
My rating 8/10
For a movie-length story, I thought it did a reasonable job emotionally connecting you to the characters in a short amount of time. The premise itself was compelling with a blend of fantasy, family drama, and romance. The focus was not on the romance but more her journey and a transformative experience.
What stood out most to me was the emotional growth of the female lead and how the film explored the value of ordinary life, family, and connection. The movie has a very warm emotional core, especially in the quieter moments between the family members. The little boy absolutely stole the movie for me. His scenes felt the most genuine and emotionally impactful. That is what showed her the sweet side of being someone's mother.
One thing that kept the movie from rating higher for me was how much potential the concept had for a longer format. This easily could have worked as a drama series because there were so many emotional layers and unanswered questions that the film simply didn’t have enough time to fully explore. The ending especially leaves a lingering sadness because of everything the female lead experienced with the family and how abruptly that connection disappears.
A lot of viewers seem split on the ending. Some appreciate its emotional ambiguity and focus on personal growth, while others — like me — found it heartbreaking and frustrating not knowing what truly happened to the family after the timeline reset. The emotional attachment built during the story makes it hard to simply accept that separation so easily.
Spoilers
The emotional core of the movie is really about the female lead (Li Yitian) learning how to love, connect, and value relationships rather than focusing only on career success and personal ambition. After the accident and supernatural intervention, she temporarily experiences an "alternate life"? where she is married with children — something completely opposite from the isolated life she originally lived.
What makes the movie emotionally difficult is how real that family becomes to her. And how real it is to the audience. The little boy especially forms a genuine emotional bond with her, which is why the ending feels so sad. After spending that much time loving and caring for him, it feels almost impossible to imagine simply returning to normal life and moving on.
One of the biggest unanswered questions is what actually happened to the "alternate family" once Li Yitian returns to her original reality. The film never fully explains whether that timeline was erased, whether the family continues existing without her, or whether they were only part of the supernatural “lesson” she needed to experience. That ambiguity was likely intentional, but it also leaves a lingering emotional emptiness. It was even more confusing because her spiritual guide says what happened to the real mother and that if she wasn't there they would have already experienced that loss. So that alludes to the fact that they are real and had a real wife/mother.
To me the story felt as much about that family as it did about her so not knowing what happened with them made it feel very incomplete.
The man on the plane and her flirtatious connection with him shows she is clearly open to having a romantic connection with someone. Open to love. Ready to have that be a part of her life. But that also felt sad, weirdly like cheating, because she didn't try that hard to find out what happened to the family she was briefly a part of.
Li Yitian seems to have accepted that family is no longer accessible to her. But viewers, such as me, would feel no closure for the other characters we became equally attached to. Did they lose their wife and mother as the spirit guide had indicated? Since they were able to write her into their story, did they just then erase their existence after she left entirely? Or, did they change them back to the way they were and thus she would not be able to find them because their names and everything may have changed? It was a nebulous and sad way to close that off.
That unresolved feeling is probably why the movie sticks with people emotionally after it ends. There’s a sense of grief attached to the experience because the family felt real, here spirit guide seemed to indicate they were real, and yet her actions indicate, once she tried a little, her complete willingness to give up on that family.
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Dream or real
Simple drama about life. Everybody here write about plot holes. For me what they think as a plot hole i see as 1 big confusing plot in the end. After all how can we understand the nature work of 'GOD' work with time and everything ^_^. Maybe if they make drama from this movie, everything will be more elaborate.Ok. Agreed with anomoly. The pacing is a little bit quick, but however this is movie not drama, Li Yu Ran so quick to adapt with her situation & make everything seem easy and came naturally. Yeah there's been confusing in the first day of her 'awaken' that quite funny actually. Love how she still have her nature habits as a lawyer when she have to deal with her daughter incident.
Sometimes in Chinese drama I think no matter how small they have to put a little bit karma in every drama. Like here. It's like Li Yu Ran got instant karma, she have to hear the exact word that she said in her earlier case (Rape case) said to her face. She finally got the feeling of the mother of the girl.
Ok now we talk about that confusing plot.
1. Why they don't erase her memory. When she just wake up as 'the mom', or when she wake up as 'the lawyer.'
2. Why all of Zhang Tao family be gone... Ok a little bit imagination here. If we want to make a line to the end, does it because actually Zhang Tao family could be her family in the future... Or maybe all of this only dream... :P It could be.... ^_^
This drama will gonna be perfect if only like the Zhang Tao family were not vanish, but simply just didn't recognize her. But overall I still enjoy this movie.
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How to experience 'What If'
This movie was cute and reminded me the US version 'The Family Man with Nicolas Cage'. The story becomes a little detached midway but finds its pace towards the end. The FL was good in showing the edge and breakdown of one's bias through time. The ending was open-ended much like the US version which leaves hope for a better outcome in the end. The family element was interesting yet relatable. The 'purgatory' scenes felt more like references from 'Beetlejuice or Jupiter's Landing' odd, old, detached and disheveled. The overall production was okay. However, this is a solid movie worth watching.Was this review helpful to you?
Good enough to pass the time
This was a good-enough, cute-enough movie, nothing groundbreaking. I didn't really feel too emotionally connected with any of the characters, because for me the acting was a little flat. I did like the basic story line and the progression of the FL. Going from career driven to family woman was an entertaining watch. The ending was a letdown for me (my own personal opinion), only because the ML looked so different. I spent a lot of time wondering if it was the same guy, and since I'm easily distracted, I couldn't focus on the story.Was this review helpful to you?
