1
This review may contain spoilers
Romanticizing abuse like it’s the 1980s, when red flags were just...fashion choices.
This one kicks off with a tone that’s shockingly risqué for a mainstream Chinese drama. The opening scenes toe the line of softcore, and I’ll admit—I bit. Curiosity overrode caution. It promised heat, tension, and emotional chaos, and for a moment, it looked like it might deliver something unhinged but gripping. Instead, it pulled a bait-and-trauma switch, spiraling into a disturbing mess that wasn’t horrifying because of gore—but because of its retrograde view of love.
The real villain here isn’t the antagonist—it’s the toxic romance masquerading as depth. The male lead’s behavior reads like a walking red flag convention, but the script insists it’s all just passion. Psychological manipulation, coercion, obsession—wrapped in sleek direction and moody music to disguise how wildly outdated it all is. It’s 2025, and we’re still pretending that abuse is romantic? I’ve seen hostage situations with more emotional honesty.
And then there’s the kid. God bless him. He’s left to roam the streets like a Dickensian orphan while his mother plays spy games with her trauma, hiding behind her flimsy excuse of a mask like she’s Caroline Kent. She’s not fooling anyone, least of all her child—who’s clearly not the story’s priority. He’s emotional roadkill in a plot too enamored with its own dysfunction to notice.
The cherry on top? I wasted precious time scouring the internet for a working link, suckered in by a handful of glowing reviews that clearly skipped the part where the story devolves into a glorified hostage fantasy. If surrender is the only escape, I regret ever clicking play.
The real villain here isn’t the antagonist—it’s the toxic romance masquerading as depth. The male lead’s behavior reads like a walking red flag convention, but the script insists it’s all just passion. Psychological manipulation, coercion, obsession—wrapped in sleek direction and moody music to disguise how wildly outdated it all is. It’s 2025, and we’re still pretending that abuse is romantic? I’ve seen hostage situations with more emotional honesty.
And then there’s the kid. God bless him. He’s left to roam the streets like a Dickensian orphan while his mother plays spy games with her trauma, hiding behind her flimsy excuse of a mask like she’s Caroline Kent. She’s not fooling anyone, least of all her child—who’s clearly not the story’s priority. He’s emotional roadkill in a plot too enamored with its own dysfunction to notice.
The cherry on top? I wasted precious time scouring the internet for a working link, suckered in by a handful of glowing reviews that clearly skipped the part where the story devolves into a glorified hostage fantasy. If surrender is the only escape, I regret ever clicking play.
Was this review helpful to you?
