Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Well-Intended Love’ on Netflix, a Chinese Comedy-Drama That’s as Strange as it is Schmaltzy

Netflix’s Well-Intended Love is a Chinese comedy-drama about a contract marriage between two young, attractive people. She’s sick. He can help her. But he’ll only do it if she marries him. (Who would propose such a thing?) Will they do as many young, attractive people do in these situations, and fall in love? What complications will they inevitably encounter? And will this odd situation entice us to keep watching?

WELL-INTENDED LOVE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: An establishing drone shot of downtown Singapore.

The Gist: Xia Lin (Simona Wang) sits in the doctor’s office with a quizzical look on her face. She’s 21 and healthy. Her whole life is ahead of her. She has leukemia. Which one of these attributes doesn’t belong? You’d be in a state of denial, too.

Flash back seven hours. Xia, a wannabe actress, waits for her ride to a commercial audition. She hops in the wrong car. Inside is Ling Yi Zhou (Xu Kaicheng), who may be bored, or possibly interested in this attractive young woman — it’s hard to tell. He amuses her, and gives her a ride anyway. She realizes her mistake and is slightly mortified, but thanks him. In a wacky circumstance, Chu Yan (Ian Yi), who missed his ride with Ling because of Xia, ends up hosting the audition. She doesn’t get the job.

Xia’s day doesn’t get better. She catches her boyfriend cheating on her. Then comes the diagnosis, the impending chemotherapy and the revelation that there’s only one potential bone marrow donor on the list — you guessed it. Ling. Problem is, he’s listed himself as unavailable. Another problem: He’s a hotshot rich-and-famous CEO, and goes everywhere with his overprotective handler. He’s also a weirdly expressionless nut, and a tough one to crack.

So Xia and her roommate Jia Fei (Liu Jia Xi) conspire to confront Ling. They mercilessly stalk him. He says no, over and over again. Why? Who knows. He’s impenetrable, even when given the opportunity to possibly save someone’s life. Xia finally breaks through, and he agrees to be a donor, if she’ll marry him. She looks stunned. See you next episode!

Our Take: First of all, the opening credits sequence is so gauzy, it’s as if your TV is wearing a wedding veil. It sets the tone for what follows: a miscalculated blend of kooky slapstick and soapy melodrama. The direction, editing and staging are odd; montages are drawn-out slogs, like walking through slowly coagulating syrup; characters mutter and shriek and boo hoo and stare into space as if they’re alien approximations of human behavior.

Performances are stiff, situations are awkward and the premise is creepy — I realize the show is transparently attempting to set up a zany, hopeless romance, but does Xia really have a choice but to marry the guy? She’ll probably die otherwise. And what kind of troglodyte would force someone to marry him in this manner? What’s his damage? Why is he so emotionally cold? Was he raised by cave trolls who drag women around by their hair?

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: A freeze-frame of Xia reaching out to touch Ling, preceded by multiple angles of the same shot, for some curious dramatic effect that eludes me.

Sleeper Star: Wang has an upbeat presence that could carry Well-Intended Love ably, assuming the characters and plot settle down and find a groove — which doesn’t happen at all in this 40-minute pilot.

Most Pilot-y Line: “How on earth could I have leukemia?” Xia says, incredulous in the doctor’s office.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Dramatizing a cancer diagnosis requires a shred of tangible realism in order to sell the premise. So far, Well-Intended Love has none of that. Good intentions, maybe. But the execution is lousy.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream Well-Intended Love on Netflix