Director: Hung Tzu Peng, Production company: TVBS, Country: Taiwan Language: Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles, 9×60′ 2022, Territories: Upon request
Lovely Villain is a 2022 Taiwanese drama series that was directed by Hung Tzu Peng. Billed as Taiwan’s answer to the hit K-drama Penthouse according to TNP.
Seeking a new start, a struggling family moves to a wealthy neighborhood but confronts a string of crises behind the lavish facade of upper-class life.
Han Zhen Zhen (Sonia Sui) is a woman who has been through a lot. Once swimming in debt, she has managed to repay all of her loans – leaving her penniless. But she wants her family to have a fresh start – and thinks that moving into her sister’s exclusive neighborhood full of wealthy and powerful individuals will help her do so. So she, her teenage daughter(Chloe Xiang, and her husband, the struggling and frustrated writer Zhuang Jun Jie (James Wen) decide to do precisely that. Posing to be her rich sister, and her not-so-happy family, moved into an upper-class community. Zhenzhen couldn’t help but get involved in the power struggle among her posh stay at home wife neighbors known as “tai-tai”, until her sister returns.
Han Zhen Zhen first thinks that all is well. But she is soon sucked into local power politics, and becomes embroiled in a bitter dispute. And things get even worse for their daughter, who is tormented by her past demons. She was once the victim of bullying, and her misfortunes continue in the new neighborhood when she is sexually assaulted. Zhuang Jun Jie accuses a baseball player and fellow resident of carrying out the crime. But is he really her attacker? And what will become of the family as local rivalries deepen?
Review
“An interesting slow burn thriller Taiwanese Drama. It felt like a slower-paced, socio-political drama mashup of “Stepford Wives”, “Mean Girls“, with undertones of the Korean movie Parasite. Don’t be fooled thinking it’s merely a slice-of-life drama, about family life in a wealthy gated community. This series focuses heavily on inter-social-political relations and elistist power struggles.”