At the Moment (2023)

An original take on love in the time of pandemic

Each of the 10 episodes in this anthology series is its own original love story. You don't have to watch them all or in sequential order to enjoy them, but all the main characters make a cameo in ep 10 and we learn a bit more about what's happened to them.

The approach to romance is unique in each episode. One couple meets on a reality tv show while another meets when their spouses are having an affair. There's an ep about a run-in with an ex and another about a playboy who inadvertently gets his comeuppance. In another ep, childhood lovers reunite, and in another, a working class man with a disability finds unexpected connection with a hard-working mom. There's even a psychedelic, out-of-this-world surrealist episode that I don't have words to describe (ep 4). In one of the most charming episodes, a man discovers he loves being a stay-at-home dad, but he and his wife have to negotiate what that means in light of gendered social expectations.

The episodes end with the suggestion of what's next rather than dramatic flash-forwards in time. In other words, the narratives focus on revealing what's going on "at the moment" rather than the details of what comes next.

Expect butterflies and sweetness but also angst and heartbreak in some of them. We see couples of different ages and at different stages of life. There's a sense of realism to the stories and their variety of representations of love. Although the episodes are set during the height of Covid, the pandemic is more of a backdrop than at the center of the narratives.

There are queer stories too. Episode 5 is in the vein of BL while episode 9 is a very touching GL.

The series brings together high production values with an all-star cast! If you’ve followed Taiwanese film and drama series, you will recognize some of your favorite actors and actresses here.

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At the Moment I could use some more Moments of these...

I started this anthology, thinking I am not a huge fan of anthologies and thinking it should be okay if I just space it out so I watched the first episode felt this was ok... maybe a 7,5 or so nothing wow but an okay story with interesting characters that I could not fully relate to so I took a break and watched something else before I took on the next episode, an episode that started all weird but ended up pretty good and before I knew it I had completed episode 8 and felt a whole bunch of feelings...

Anger, disappointment, sorrow, pain, oooh how cute, and wait what was that... All interesting stories in one way or another, all had well developed characters and all kept me curious about how it would go... I guess wanting more but all I got was this moment... or maybe another couple of moments but most of those moments added to my will to learn more instead of satisfying my curiosity about the people in this show.

There are a few lessons that I am sure you will figure out, a bunch of balls flying in a really good way, some balls flying in an not so good way....

The match point of this show is however the so called real stories, they may be scripted, but all stories are of the kind that are taken from real life events, regular people, regular struggles, and a whole lot of love...

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A Buffet of Romance Stories

This anthology-style drama consists of 10 romance stories that happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Except for the last episode, you can watch the other 9 in any order, and you wouldn’t be confused. For me, I just watched it from the beginning. Even though these are stories of love, they are not necessarily all cute and fluffy. But it does give us variety and viewers will probably like some more than others.

“At the Moment” has a star-studded cast. If you watch enough Taiwanese dramas, you will recognize or have seen all of them in other dramas. It seems like the whole cast was in the “Light the Night” series, some as main/supporting characters, and others in guest roles. This is probably because director Lian Yi Qi also directed all 3 “Light the Night” dramas.

The acting is pretty good and the stories are interesting enough. I do have my favorites.

Ep 1 - Scripted Love - this is an interesting and not a bad introduction to the drama.
Ep 2 - Price for a ‘happy ending’ - this is one of my favorite ones. Love the actors and it’s funny!
Ep 3 - Blinded by love - not one of my favorites as I don’t like the female character that much. The male lead is quite good-looking though.
Ep 4 - ET phone home - this is quite weird to begin with but I like the interesting twist (thought somewhat predictable).
Ep 5 - Dodgeball - not one of my favorites because I don’t like the portrayal of the sudden change of feelings.
Ep 6 - Let’s try again - this one is OK, even though I like both leads.
Ep 7 - Hot and sexy revenge - there’s just something about Chris Wu that makes him so damn sexy, even though he’s not the typical pretty boy. Watch this for him. LOL
Ep 8 - Role Reversal - this one is different from the others. A very ‘normal’ relationship but it’s actually really sweet to see how the couple supports each other.
Ep 9 - Badminton never dies - a pleasant surprise to see the portrayal of such a relationship.
Ep 10 - I’m sorry Jie Jie 姐姐 - gotta include this trope within these 10 episodes. It was nice to have a quick recap of how everyone’s doing.


Completed: 11/21/2023 - Review #379

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Not So Ordinary Love Story

What is love? Different people has different opinion on what is love.

This short drama did give us a variety of love stories. Let it be from normal couples, married couple, BL & GL couples and even singles. Why I said single because loving yourself is also a form of love.

Although every episodes have their own story line, there's some updates on the next episodes from the couple/people on the earlier episodes. This is what I love from this short drama.
I've always been a fan of Taiwanese dramas and its hard to find good ones lately. Although there wasn't a lot of happy endings in this drama but every episodes ending did give me a good conclusion. But the last episodes ending was the best one as it gave closure to the whole drama.

Not forgetting the casts, if you're an avid fan of T-dramas, you'll find lots of veteran actresses and actor in this drama as well as the new ones and each of them did shined in their own way. Loving the casts and their acting.

The 3 best episodes for me were episodes 7,8 and 10. These 3 stories were different yet very interesting on its own.
But overall the 10 episodes were all good.
There were some cute lovey dovey scenes, there was sorrow, happiness and betrayal all mixed together in all the episodes.
I would say its a roller coaster of emotion yet fluttering.

Do watch this drama without any expectation and you're bound to enjoy it like I did. Give it a try. I hope this short review helps to convince you to watch it. Enjoy ^^

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Good payoff for low time investment

For those that detest long, trope and filler-laden dramas, At the Moment is a good antidote that deliver interesting short stories without the exasperation. The drama is an anthology of 10, loosely connected love stories set in the Covid era of Taiwan. With a star-studded acting lineup featuring many of the notable names in Taiwan entertainment and solid production, the show definitely delivers on the technical side. And for those who are tired of fake-looking kissing scenes, the drama delivers pretty realistic kissing and intimacy scenes. Though due to the short length of each stand-alone episode that's less than an hour, many viewers may miss the deeper connection, complicated plot, and greater runtime of a typical drama.

Since the episodes are so short, I will only provide my rating for each episode rather than a review that will inevitably be full of spoilers. Overall, I enjoyed the earlier episodes more than the later ones. I think this is partly due to the novelty and vibe of the format wearing off toward the later episodes as some of the stories felt less unique and repetitive of the general vibe and formula of the earlier episodes. Several of the love-stories also felt more hollow as we are not shown the strong and intricate reasons why the characters would suddenly fall deeply in love with each other, some may be hinted but much is left to viewer extrapolation or imagination.

👍Ep1 - 8; 👍👍Ep2 - 8.5; 👍👍ep3 - 8.5; 👌ep4 - 7.5; 👌ep5 - 7; 👌ep6 - 7; 👌ep7 - 7.5; 👍ep8 - 8; 👌Ep9 - 7; 👌Ep10 - 7

***Component Ratings***
✔️ Overall - 7.5 + (0.5 MDL bump) --> 8.0
✔️ Plot - 8
✔️ Theme / Message / Impact - 7.5
✔️ ✔️ Acting - 9
✔️✔️ Visuals - 8.5
✔️ Audio - 8.5
✔️ Rewatch - 7.5
✔️ Accessibility - 8
✔️ Subtitle quality - ?

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10 different stories, 10 different perspectives on love & relationships

It's an anthology series in which all the stories are well written and well acted. I will do a small review for each of them.

EP1: 8.5/10 - Gingle Wang & Berant Zhu fall in love while filming a reality show. It's a cute story with 2 adorable characters.
EP2: 9.5/10 - a deaf man (Terrance Lau) meets a masseuse (Puff Kuo). It had great story and cinematography, wish it was an actual long movie.
EP3: 8/10 - a guy with attachment issues (Austin Lin) meets a seemingly blind girl (Lulu). Story & acting was good but I found it a bit hard to connect to the characters, still a good watch.
Ep4: 9/10 - a time traveler (Nikki Hsieh) meets an alien (Zhang Guang Chen)? You need to pay attention to understand the story. I loved the symbolism in it, we might all have different interpretations of it, that's its charm.
Ep5: 9/10 - an office manager (Johnny Yang) falls for the intern (Derek Chang). Though it didn't have the ending I wanted, it was still a good ride. (btw the story's follow up is in ep10)
Ep6: 8.5/10 - exes (JC Lin & Vivian Sung) meet again. Nice story & acting, liked the ending.
Ep7: 9/10 - a man (Chris Wu) & a woman (Dee Hsu), whose spouses are having an affair together, develop feelings. It was really interesting, the premise reminded me a bit of In the Mood for Love but obviously it's very different from that.
Ep8: 9/10 - the housewife (Esther Liu) & the breadwinner (Xiu Jie Kai) swap roles. It was sweet and heartwarming to say the least.
Ep9: 9/10 - childhood sweethearts (Ruby Lin & Kelly Lin) reuniting. My sapphic heart is happy!
Ep10: 8.5/10 - the boss (Alyssa Chia) & her assistant (Tseng Jing Hua) develop feelings. I am not a fan of boss/employee or age gap relationships so I wasn't fond of this one, but the acting was incredible. We also get glimpses of the other main characters.

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Great for bingeing or a la carte

I really liked this anthology of Taiwanese love stories between people from different walks of life. They were funny, sad, quirky, sweet, and thought provoking. What ties them together are well crafted transitions intertwined into the plot that could be anywhere from brief cameo appearances of a character, to a whole new plot surrounding the previous supporting cast in the next. The series then makes a full circle back to the situations of the first episode to tie all the episodes together. Some episodes are stronger than others, but they all deliver in the messages of love and connection during the Covid-19 pandemic as the driving force in the plot.

From dating reality show drama, to cheating, to finding love in the most unexpected places, to navigating societal constraints, this anthology has it all. These 50 minute episodes tug at your heartstrings, making you wish you had more backstory, but what you are given is just enough to make it worthwhile.

I would love a season 2 to this. It was original and creative. I love it when writers don't fall on clichéd tropes to make a good drama. This was a diamond in the rough.

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Half good, half bad

In general, the drama itself is neutral in terms of overall rating. It offers a few captivating episodes that made me in tears but also has a few forgettable featured stories. Decided to watch this because of the edits I watched regarding the BL side of the story, as well as having Tseng Jing Hua as one of the many characters in the drama. To rate the drama, I must emphasize each episode with my mini-reviews. In particular order, from best to least, here is my ranking:

Best to Good EPs:

EP05 The Perfect Dodgeball Game
I’m being biased here, as a BL fan, I honestly enjoyed this episode. The story touched on the reality of the life of an ordinary homosexual person. “To fall in love with a straight man…” These few lines contain a lot of stories from the gay community. It painfully hurts you a lot. The conclusion of them being good friends and supporting each other from a distance is good enough. I, once again fall in love with Derek Chang. I first saw him playing a villain role in Oh No! Here Comes Trouble and this man is soothing with manliness and sensational appeal. What a blissful sight to see him being cast in a short gay episode.

EP02 The Night in Question
Thank you for introducing me to Terrence Lau, another cute actor to add to my long list of celebrity crushes. The charm of this episode lies in the unusual story. A single man with hearing impaired that fell in love with a hostess. Both of them have a loveable and firm character that makes their chemistry as cute and sexy as possible. A happy ending for a deserving couple.

EP08 Head of the Family
Loving the light yet meaningful storytelling of the happiness of a married couple. I always feel enthusiastic when it comes to the story that showcase different approaches to the norms of how people view one’s life and roles. The married couples being supportive of each others’ life decisions and careers was wholesome.

EP07 The Promise of Karuizawa
I never thought that the usual mistress concept could be somewhat sweet yet remain unethical. The two characters who were betrayed by their respective partners and eventually committed the same mistake were unexpectedly interesting. They fell in love but chose to distance themselves was the perfect ending for both of them. The society will never see them as a good couple because of how their story went out. If they end up together, the fault of their spouses will immediately all directed towards them alone. I can’t imagine the hate and gossip of the people around them. What a dramatic episode.

EP09 The Ghost in Your Heart
The gays are winning… and sobbing. “But why does loving someone turn us into ghosts? I’ve been wondering, if one of us is a boy, would you and I will be fine together?” Lines that spell agony and discomfort. At least, the couple continues their love story after how many years but loses the middle man’s life that huddles their romantic story.

Kay to Meh EPs:

EP06 Something Old
The only good thing about this episode is that the ex-couple did not end up together during the finale. The woman felt pressured by the man’s good intentions which took out the wrong and painful way for the woman’s life. The man is too nosy and has the undying habit of involving the people around them on most occasions, without even consulting the woman first.

EP03 The Color of You
All about lies. I understand that the man can easily reject people who are fond of him, but the whole episode revolves around lies to fulfill their desires.

EP04 From Beyond the Stars
Love the chemistry but not the concept of aliens and time travel stuff. I believed that forcing a fantasy into a reality show was unpleasant. It ruins the setting and pace of the drama.

EP01 Reality Dating Show
I hate that the pilot episode is not even close to being called a decent start to the show. It was chaotic with too much stuff happening between the many featured characters.

EP10 Based on True Events
I understand why EP01 was meh, all because of this finale that turns out to be the mother who produced the storyline of the first episode. The finale episode must need to be impactful and beyond great but this just ruins that idea. I was too bored and not emotional that the drama had ended. My baby Tseng Jing Hua deserves a better story than this one.

I was frustrated but at least I am happy with some of the episodes. Having the pandemic as the time setting is good to showcase what happened to people’s lives during this world health crisis. At the Moment is more about living your best moment in life, prioritizing your happiness more than others.

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10 different, but very real stories of love, heartbreak, life challenges, and decisions.

This series and storytelling has been one of the best I've seen. Nowadays movies and shows are so inconsistent with their storyboarding often rushing or jumping to a new scene or idea so suddenly really taking the viewer out of the show

This series consists of 10 episodes steadily exploring 10 different, but very real stories of love, heartbreak, life challenges, and decisions.

These scenarios are well thought out and well structured really allowing people of all ages and preferences to relate to the characters one way or another.

The roster of characters all exists in this world somewhat intertwined, but not necessarily related in anyway. This way of storytelling creates essentially a type of world building where these characters you saw and liked/disliked or have invested time in are continuing to live their life as you learn and explore these new character's life and personal challenges.

I feel that these stories touch really well on how real these scenarios can be and can/have happened. You may relate to some from past experiences, you may find some stories interesting, you may find some stories heartbreaking, but at the same time realize sometimes life just doesn't go the way you want even if the answer is right there.

Timing, stages of life, work and career, life circumstances, and so much more are displayed in all of these stories.

This series should be watched as an anthology as it is meant to be. It is a collection of stories and a collection of life events that can and has happened.
I see some reviews complaining why there are different characters or why the previous characters become background characters or story is not completely finished, but that is the purpose of this series.

Each episode depicts a type of story about love and life then life goes on as new stories are told. Previous characters lives on and their story is not finished just because the episode is done. They show up as everyday people living their life in new episodes and we see some characters intertwine through their own history or through their career or just their coincidence just like how life goes.

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Amor aqui e agora é uma obra que aborda em cada episódio a história de um casal durante a pandemia, mostrando os problemas que enfrentam.

Gostaria de começar escrevendo sobre os personagens. Acredito que cada um tenha personalidade única, sendo uma série que consegue manter os traços das personagens bem marcantes, apesar da quantidade de principais. Vale apena ressaltar a inclusão feita na obra, que acaba se mostrando natural, ou seja, acredito que o roteiro tenha abordado assuntos importantes sem procurar a necessidade de apelar a clichês ou "lacrar" sobre o assunto.

Sobre o elenco, acredito ser diverso e com atores com diferentes qualidades, sendo nítido aqueles que desempenham um melhor papel. Sendo assim, foram poucos os momentos que senti que a atuação deixou a desejar.

A história é muito bem dividida e contada, tendo roteiros que fogem do comum. No entanto, em alguns episódios a história andava muito devagar, minha vontade era levantar e dar uma volta. Além disso, alguns dos finas ficaram muito abertos, tendo sua finalização somente no último episódio de forma muito breve, Isso acaba incomodando o fluxo da história, que acaba por se arrastar durante alguns minutos.

Só tenho a elogiar os cenários, todos muito bem feitos e com a personalidade dos personagens. Penso que a caracterização dos locais ajuda a contar a história mais representativa e visual.

Um dos aspectos mais importantes da obra é a identificação dos espectadores, que conseguem se conectar com pelos menos algum personagens no decorrer da história, seja através de seus problemas, qualidades, desejos, histórias de vida... Acredito que quando nos vemos em um personagem, o impacto da história sobre nós fica muito maior.

No geral, a história é uma graça e super voltaria a ver. Vou continuar a acompanhar os atores que me interessaram e recomendaria a obra para pessoas que não se importam de assistir uma obra mais parada e com diferentes ritmos de desenvolvimento!

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