Imperfect Us

Viu
4 stars

In the first few minutes of the star-studded Taiwanese drama Imperfect Us, working mother and dutiful wife Qingfen (Ariel Lin) busies herself with work, her son and household chores. When she finally gets a moment to herself, she goes online and searches for a woman named Rebecca (Tiffany Hsu) on social media.

Twelve years earlier, Rebecca and Qingfen’s husband, Ruizhi (Mike He), were in a loving relationship, while Qingfen carried a torch for Ruizhi. But when cracks began to show in the relationship between Rebecca and Ruizhi, Qingfen swooped in and bagged the man.

Jumping back and forth between the past and present, Imperfect Us elevates the common trope of a love triangle to examine choice – why people choose to do what they do, and the lingering regrets and insecurities their decisions may give rise to.

Here are three reasons to binge on the eight-episode series that will air its finale on April 27.

1. Realistic and complicated women

The best thing about Imperfect Us is how unafraid it is to centre on complicated female characters who are at times bitter, unkind and sad.

Qingfen seems to have it all – an enviable marriage, an obedient son and a stable job. But day and night, she neurotically stalks Rebecca’s social media posts and dissects her every word and photo to conjure up fantasies of Rebecca’s life – rich, successful and romancing a younger man.

While it is initially framed as a silly one-sided rivalry, with Qingfen wanting to one-up the woman her husband once loved, it becomes clear over the course of the series that Qingfen is deeply insecure and never quite shook the belief that Ruizhi settled for her because Rebecca broke up with him. That causes her to withdraw from Ruizhi and eventually destroys her marriage.

As for Rebecca, her life is nowhere near as glamorous as Qingfen imagines.

While she is beautiful and competent, she struggles with loneliness and financial anxiety. And she is at her lowest point – unemployed, lost and nursing a broken heart from her break-up with Ruizhi – when she embarks on an ill-advised affair with a married man.

2. A+ acting

With a cast that includes Golden Bell-winning actresses Lin and Hsu, the acting in Imperfect Us is, naturally, impressive.

For one thing, He takes on a fresh challenge and breaks out entirely of his idol drama hunk image, as in Devil Beside You (2005).

Here, he is a weary, greying middle-aged man, with his body often hunched or slouched to reflect his fatigue. His placid performance works to highlight his character’s passive nature and makes the moments when his simmering resentment with his life erupts in quiet rage or sobs stand out. 

And while Hsu is commendable in her role, Lin is the one who shines, in part due to the meaty storylines given to her.

3. Thought-provoking dialogue

Written and directed by award-winning Taiwanese film-maker Mag Hsu, the series is peppered with vignettes of truth and sometimes funny, sometimes thought-provoking dialogue that hits home.

In a not-so-subtle jibe at her own life, Qingfen’s voiceover while she scrolls through Rebecca’s posts says: “Sometimes, we think what we’re chasing is happiness, but perhaps what we truly love is pain.”

And in another scene where Rebecca and a friend are gossiping about an acquaintance’s divorce, the friend says: “If you’re alone, all you have to resolve is the problem of loneliness. But when there are two people, that’s where all the trouble pops up.”