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Antihero and lying "rabbit" are wonderfully matched!
A vertically filmed micro drama (I rate these on their own sliding scale). General spoilers only. The actors are great, the plot is interesting, the script is good (even despite the mediocre translation where I watched it), and it's a tense yet fun watch. The dynamic between the lead characters is fascinating and well executed. It has a cat and mouse feel, except the FL actually holds a lot of power in the dynamic because of how the ML feels about her, and she purposefully lightly seduces him a few times. So, while the ML definitely has the air of a predator and the FL an air of prey, the role of the "cat" is sometimes a toss-up and can change multiple times in a scene. The two characters are very well matched in intellect, neither are all pure or evil, and they are obviously attracted to each other.The lead actress (and editing) does a wonderful job showing the audience her true feelings while at the same time adjusting her outward appearance to best navigate or influence/manipulate the people around her depending on necessity and the situation. She seems meek and demure but is quietly smart and brave while pursuing her goals of saving her brother and getting revenge on the people who ordered their family to be murdered 3 years ago. She lies out of necessity (from her view, to protect herself and her brother), not because she's morally deficient.
The lead actor is perfect as the ruthless second son of a family that has always treated him abysmally. The way he can turn on a dime from a devil-may-care attitude to intense intimidation when interacting with everyone is fun to watch too. He can't help falling for the FL who is kind and brave with him, even though she keeps lying to him. It's easy to see in his micro facial expressions fairly early on that he wants to mean more to her. Later, he wants to be more than just a tool for revenge, but he's willing to be that tool if it keeps her by his side.
There are a few moments with high sexual tension and some kisses. Though the lips aren't shown during kisses, it was one of the rare productions where I didn't mind because those scenes and the chemistry still felt satisfying.
There are some of the typical tropes with vertical dramas but most are done well. The SFL was the only one I found annoying. She had no subtlety or nuance, either with the way the character was written, or the way it was acted. Her face kept making me think of an angry, crazily posessed goldfish, lol.
There's quite a bit of violence in this story, so you are forewarned. It includes whippings and beatings, a finger torture device, punches, stabbings, chokings, etc. Fake blood is used.
The ML does get physically aggressive with the FL (manhandling and choking), but to me it didn't have a sadistic drive to it as most of it usually happened after the ML uncovered one of her lies. It felt more born out of hurt, frustration, and a desire to possess. There are also some more tender moments between them, and the ML helps the FL quite a bit, which helped balance things out. The ML does have softer moments, but never becomes a total "puppy" in his expression of love, which I appreciated as that would have felt out of character.
General spoiler on the ending:
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It is a tender happy ending. Though it's relatively short, it was still a satisfying scene to end on.
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I will definitely rewatch at some point.
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Lost in the Midnight - Fore me the best Drama
For me the best film!The actors are exceptional!
Chen Si as the lead actor is an exceptional actor, yoy travel with him through the emotions, every twitch, head move.. hand gesture.. are so trusworthy, so natural, I was realy surprised with his acting level so young! To tell the truth... much better than the american short's really incredible
And and yu yin is e EXCEPTIONAL TOO, She is so delicate in her feelings, the duocity of her drama.. living in anothers skin, so having to interpretate all the time...
the acting is so exceptional, that makes us question how they become so much better than the short films with american actors!
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Lost in The Midnight really delivers with a very sexy and devoted ML!
I am having a huge binge of these MINI-DRAMAS lately! Just aghhhh totally feeds my romantic soul! "Lost in the Midnight" is my first drama with the mainleads and i got so deliciously surprised by their chemistry and acting talent, especially the actor portraying Male Lead, our very dark and tortured mob gangster Luo Xiao who is despised and feared by everyone. I mean, all his brothers and grandfather hates him. Everyone have tormented and abused him, no wonder he held no love for his family at all. The actor just stole the overall show for me, his expressions and the rage and pain in his eyes was incrediby portrayed. What he did for the female lead to be by his side, ahhhh i love a smitten possessive hero!!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Insane Performance By Both Leads
** SPOILER HEAVY REVIEWDespite the premise of this story being wildly messed up, this is actually my favorite drama from either lead respectively. The story of a suppressed, abused young girl being forced into a business marriage with another family member being used as leverage/held hostage is so overused but this story did it right, in my own opinion. The FL delivers such a strong range of worry, panic, sadness, and overall exhaustion from the situation she's forced into. At the same time, the ML is just handsome, deranged and overall wild in such a way that's unapologetic and straight-forward. From start to finish, he really only cares for the FL and those who are loyal to him, disregarding the 2FL's obsession with him and basically dragging his entire family down at every turn. This was that story that really cemented Yu Yin & Chen Si as two of my top favorite short drama talents from the very beginning. 10/10 recommend to romance fans.
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Cringey, but I still kept watching
tbh I get this type of vertical short cdramas are meant for a quick watch while chinese people are commuting to work or having lunch, but I still wanna say the plot was so weak most of the time the drama felt like an insult to the intellect of the audience. Madam Jian hit people like she was from the Middle Ages and nobody found it weird and wrong, people killed each other with no consequences at all, does the police even exist in this drama? haha besides there were too many tropes randomly thrown to the plot and it just made it cringey af so even if the actors weren't that bad there wasn't much they could do with such a poorly written script. STILL I watched it from beginning to end because even if it was ridiculous, the lead actors are cute and I wanted to see how their story was gonna unfold.(this is my personal opinion, so don't mind me)
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She Feared Him Most—Until He Became the One Who Protected Her with His Life.” ❤️?
Lost in the Midnight* was one of those short dramas where the ML completely held my attention. Lou Xiao is definitely not your typical sweet romantic lead. He is dangerous, unpredictable, intimidating, and honestly a walking red flag at times. Yet somehow, he also becomes the person I trusted the most to protect Si Yue.Si Yue enters the Jian family under a false identity because she is desperately trying to save her brother, who is in a vegetative state. She is surrounded by people using her for their own purposes, and then she mistakenly believes the feared Lou Xiao is the man she is supposed to marry.
Talk about choosing the most dangerous man in the room. 😂
What I loved about Lou Xiao was that the drama never completely changed his personality just because he fell in love. He remained dangerous and intimidating. The difference was that his feelings for Si Yue slowly revealed another side of him.
At first, Si Yue is afraid of him—and she has every reason to be. But as the story progresses, the man she fears becomes the man who repeatedly stands between her and danger.
Lou Xiao knows Si Yue is hiding things from him. He knows she lies to him, and those lies hurt him because he wants to mean more to her than simply being someone she can use. Yet despite his anger and frustration, he continues protecting her.
That was what made his character interesting to me.
He doesn't suddenly become some gentle puppy because he falls in love. 😂 Lou Xiao loves intensely, possessively, and sometimes frighteningly. But when it truly matters, he is willing to put himself in danger for Si Yue.
For a man everyone is supposed to fear, his biggest weakness becomes the woman who was originally terrified of him.
I also really enjoyed the chemistry between the ML and FL. Si Yue isn't completely helpless beside such a strong ML. She has her own reasons for lying and hiding her identity, and watching Lou Xiao slowly realize how much she means to him made their relationship even better.
The ending was good, and I was happy that after everything these two went through, we were given a tender and satisfying ending rather than another tragic short-drama finale.
**BUT... I still have questions!** 😂
The ending felt a little too quick considering everything that happened before it. I wanted more explanation about what happened afterward, especially with Si Yue's brother and the consequences for everyone involved. I also wanted more time with Lou Xiao and Si Yue after all the secrets were finally exposed.
Give me ten more minutes! That's all I'm asking! 😂
I wanted to see Lou Xiao finally living without constantly fighting everyone around him and Si Yue being able to love him without another secret or enemy waiting around the corner.
Still, Lou Xiao made this drama worth watching for me.
He started as the man Si Yue feared the most and ended as the man willing to protect her with his life.
**Sometimes the most dangerous man in the room is also the safest place to stand—at least when you're the woman he loves.** ❤️
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