Not a Murder Story (2024)

What an Irony: Someone Messes Up the Crime! [No Spoiler on Who Killed the Victim]

This is probably the one of best crime dramas I watched. It's only 8 episodes, with a good sub, so it's easy to binge. Not draggy, and the plot flows nicely with red herrings and a big twist at the end. Can't guess who killed the victim until the last episode. My review will not spoil you who killed the victim, but will only spoil you what happened to the one who messed up the crime: the Male Lead Chang Tse Tung.

STORY:

The story follows the antics of Tung, who had waited for a breakthrough in his acting career to land a main role. It happened that the day he made a stupid mistake, as mentioned in the synopsis, was also the day he got a call for an audition for a main role. I wrote his "antics" because, for the sake of his career, he did foolish things to cover the mistake. The drama wants to make us believe that Tung is not the killer, so the plot flows with him trying to find out who the real killer is. He investigated people and pieces of evidence by himself and didn't let anyone know, including the police and his longtime girlfriend Chiang Yi Lu. That made Tung land in murky situations, besides the murder, because he lied here and there.

The thing I really like about this drama is that it doesn't tell you who really killed Lin Meng, the victim, until the last episode. As usual crime drama, there are plenty of red herrings. Making us believe that someone kills the victim but turns out not. Even the ones cleared are still suspicious. Once I was even suspicious that the detective might be involved, because he was so casual about the homicide, brushed off his teammate's suspicions, and regarded the homicide as an incident, like a burglary gone wrong.

CHARACTER/ACTING:

The Male Lead Tung is a flawed character, an antihero. He is desperate, and borderline depressed, since for 10 years he has waited for a breakthrough in his acting career to land a main role. Actor Liu Guan Ting did a great job portraying this messed-up character. Even from Tung's look, he looks suspicious, lol.

The Female Lead Chiang Yi Lu (Gingle Wang), I thought at first she was like a supporting character. Yi Lu is supportive indeed, she always does something for her long-time boyfriend's sake. They live together in the apartment complex where the homicide happened. Of course, that makes Yi Lu also a suspect. In the beginning of the drama, we see their relationship is strained, not only because of the murder case, but also because of the poverty, despair, and unfulfilled dreams.

Although Tung and Yi Lu are an established couple, we barely see a romance. However, towards the end, when the couple breaks up we see how deep their relationship used to be. In the end, I actually teared up during their heart-to-heart conversations. Although their sweet moments as lovers are limited, great chemistry is shown between Liu Guan Ting and Gingle Wang.

The other Female Lead Lin Meng (Sonia Sui) is the victim. Since she's dead in Episode 1, we only see the flashbacks of her interactions with the apartment residents. This character is really interesting. Shown as a super attractive woman and flirty towards men (the apartment rumors said that she has affairs), Meng is not what she looks like outwardly. Meng also becomes either the angel or the devil's voice that provokes Tung.

Since this is a murder, we also have other supporting characters who become suspects, eyewitnesses, and detectives. Since this is only an 8-episode drama, although there is no in-depth character development on the supporting characters, each actor and actress did a great job portraying their respective roles.

VISUAL (CINEMATOGRAPHY, COSTUME, MAKEUP, SETTING):

Everything screams realism with artistry in the opening scene. We see the opening scene with an eerie instrumental song and a slide of portraits of each family who lives in the apartment complex, with happy faces that turn upset when the portrait glass cracks. It symbolizes that the family/characters are not what they look outwardly, smile happily for photo shoots, but cover their secrets when they're cracked.

Realism is in everything in the drama. The cinematography is dimmed and bleak because it's a crime drama. The costume is realistic. The makeup (especially on the dead and dying characters) is believable. The home setting is like what we see in real households, messy and doesn't appear staged. Since I watch dramas from different countries other than Taiwan, I know that visuals in Kdramas are usually fancy, Cdramas are squeaky clean, Jdramas are minimalistic, and Thai dramas are over-the-top. Only Taiwanese dramas (and probably HK dramas) stage their visuals as what appears in real life or the audiences.

ENDING (Scroll below, only to what happened to the main characters, no spoiler on who killed Lin Meng)



















Chang Tse Tung is in prison. Not for the crime, thus the title fits "Not a Murder Story" since he didn't kill Ling Meng, but for other offenses (aka stupid mistakes) he made.
Chiang Yi Lu soars high in her theatrical acting career. The last scene shows her international stage play with the leading role of Lady Macbeth, an irony that symbolizes her character.
Lin Meng, obviously she's dead.
Justice is done, the police arrested who killed her.

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Hidden Gem of 2024

This show has been widely overlooked by MDLers and other drama watchers in international spaces despite being utterly—if you'll excuse the pun—thrilling to watch, whether week to week or all at once. The acting is so good that it genuinely boggled and continues to boggle my mind. I must devote special praise for the male and female leads as Liu Guan Ting depicts a scumbag you cannot help but root for while Wang Ching brings life, subtlety, and strength to his long-suffering long-term girlfriend. This isn't the sort of show I would normally choose to watch, but even several months on, I'm so glad that I did.

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