Restarting Love (2025)

Best acting I've ever seen from Luo Zheng

Since the first time I saw Luo Zheng in a drama, I've been fascinated by his looks. That strange blend of alien and sexy. His onscreen personality seemed so odd and awkward, yet also sweet. And at the same time, he pulls off some really dark twisted comedy sometimes that's both creepy and hilarious. So many facets to his personality, he is much more than the strange sexy alien he appears at first.

I'll watch anything he's in. Past few years he's managed to break out of the CEO romance ML he'd been typecast into. At first I liked this, because I wanted to see him in other roles. But his roles have been wildly experimental, and I haven't always liked them. This is another experimental drama, and it starts off confusing as hell. In fact I had no idea what was going on until maybe ep 13-15.... It's *that* kind of drama.

However, if you just let the drama take you where it's going to take you and let your logics sit back and relax, eventually these characters start to become more and more vivid, they take on more and more depth. The actors are giving really good performances, and the screenplay's dialogue is intelligent, multilayered, and psychologically adept to the point that sometimes a few lines of dialogue will transcend into something approaching true art. The settings and wardrobes are thoughtful, deliberate and restrained, as is the OST/BGM.

In the center of all this is Luo Zheng's performance, where he displays a depth - and range - of emotion that honestly I didn't even know he had in him. Especially after that one he did where he played a steelworker, omg what even was that. His projects lately have not been instilling a confidence in me that his career is thriving. But this drama is probably (so far) the highlight of his career in terms of acting. It shows he deserves to be taken very seriously, not just as a hot weird lookin CEO ML, but as a talented actor in his own right.

As much as I'd love to see him back in another CEO romance (or indeed anything that's fluffy/dark) he can do more than just that. This script showcased his abilities as an actor, but it's not the funnest watch. It's a very "make you think" watch, very artsy. I'm optimistic now about what Luo Zheng's future holds because he's shown he can take on bigger and more adventurous projects.

This would not have been possible without the FL Zhao Yao Ke and other supporting characters being able to match his pace and tone, and bring the script to life, and they did such an incredible job... If I were involved with the creation of this project, I'd be very proud of it. It's not the best drama out there. It's unassuming, quiet, it takes it's time to leave it's impressions on you. It is understated and deals with heavier subjects like spousal abuse, rage, victimhood, divorce, miscarriage, fame, obsession, heartbreak, etc. But despite not being a candidate for Drama of the Year, imo it would be a valid and interesting submission to Cannes. It has artistic merit, and it has sexy Luo Zheng giving a really amazing performance.

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