Lost in the Midnight (2024)

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 (2024) is a revenge drama with a dose of romance for the leading couple that, even though they had many nice intimate and sensual moments, their true heartfelt feelings for each other are not revealed until the very end. Some of the supporting cast members did a good job in acting but others lacked acting skills and looked more like fake lunatics. The drama is more about the main couple Lou Xiao (played by Chen Si) and Si Yue / Jian Huan (played by Yu Yin), their fated encounter and intimate involvement, their connection to a sadistic and powerful family that is out to destroy them, and their desire for revenge upon a mutual enemy. The lead couple is smart and capable but the male lead, Lou Xiao, is too aggressive and violent toward Jian Huan (Si Yue) even when he was trying to protect her. Si Yue was so focus on revenge that she would do anything like lying, seducing, conspiring, and even risking her life for the sake of revenge which drove Lou Xiao mad out of mistrust, pain, and frustration dealing with Jian Huan (Si Yue) and her deceitful demeanor in addition t his most earnest desire to hold onto her. The drama moved terribly fast and the leading couple’s feelings are not in tune to each other until the end. Still, even though the drama is not perfect, it is entertaining.

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