The Demon Beside the Pillow (2025)

Suspense thriller

Its notch romance, but suspense, don’t read on when you hate spoilers.

The twist in the story brings up Hitchcock vibes, actually. It’s an old fashioned drama, the production is good, it has a good story flow. Why does it remind me of Hitchcock? The story is focused on the three main actors, the fl, her husband and his lover, it’s a psychological hide and seek, and the actors manage to carry the drama.

Li Ruoqi is very convincing as a wife who wakes up helpless, trying to make sense of her situation- trapped by her suddenly cold and calculating husband and his volatile, greedy lover the woman in red, her daughter is their pawn. It’s good to see her fake to be weak and meek, to plan, retreat and advance.

Zhou Hang - the ml- is a narcissist, others are just tools he uses for his goal. He’s able to turn from caring husband to hateful in a microsecond.

The sfl, the lover she’s greedy, paranoid and cruel. Is she one note? Yes, but reliably so.

A shoutout to the child actress who plays daughter Susu this wasn’t an easy role and she did great!

When the fl goes into revenge mode- she doesn’t hesitate and won’t shy back from getting her hands dirty. Nerves of steel!

What was missing? This drama had many ingredients for a “is he or isn’t he”. It called for a morally grey ml, a sexual tension underlying the relationship between the two women and the man. but this was neither scripted nor delivered It’s a pity, because the fl was great and the ml was the key for this and it’s hard to say- maybe he just wasn’t given proper direction or the material?

It’s a solid drama, a good watch (really) and a lost opportunity for excellence at the same time. It’s not a romance. If you like the suspense of a whodunit, you’re well served.

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