At the Moment (2023)

An original take on love in the time of pandemic

Each of the 10 episodes in this anthology series is its own original love story. You don't have to watch them all or in sequential order to enjoy them, but all the main characters make a cameo in ep 10 and we learn a bit more about what's happened to them.

The approach to romance is unique in each episode. One couple meets on a reality tv show while another meets when their spouses are having an affair. There's an ep about a run-in with an ex and another about a playboy who inadvertently gets his comeuppance. In another ep, childhood lovers reunite, and in another, a working class man with a disability finds unexpected connection with a hard-working mom. There's even a psychedelic, out-of-this-world surrealist episode that I don't have words to describe (ep 4). In one of the most charming episodes, a man discovers he loves being a stay-at-home dad, but he and his wife have to negotiate what that means in light of gendered social expectations.

The episodes end with the suggestion of what's next rather than dramatic flash-forwards in time. In other words, the narratives focus on revealing what's going on "at the moment" rather than the details of what comes next.

Expect butterflies and sweetness but also angst and heartbreak in some of them. We see couples of different ages and at different stages of life. There's a sense of realism to the stories and their variety of representations of love. Although the episodes are set during the height of Covid, the pandemic is more of a backdrop than at the center of the narratives.

There are queer stories too. Episode 5 is in the vein of BL while episode 9 is a very touching GL.

The series brings together high production values with an all-star cast! If you’ve followed Taiwanese film and drama series, you will recognize some of your favorite actors and actresses here.

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At the Moment I could use some more Moments of these...

I started this anthology, thinking I am not a huge fan of anthologies and thinking it should be okay if I just space it out so I watched the first episode felt this was ok... maybe a 7,5 or so nothing wow but an okay story with interesting characters that I could not fully relate to so I took a break and watched something else before I took on the next episode, an episode that started all weird but ended up pretty good and before I knew it I had completed episode 8 and felt a whole bunch of feelings...

Anger, disappointment, sorrow, pain, oooh how cute, and wait what was that... All interesting stories in one way or another, all had well developed characters and all kept me curious about how it would go... I guess wanting more but all I got was this moment... or maybe another couple of moments but most of those moments added to my will to learn more instead of satisfying my curiosity about the people in this show.

There are a few lessons that I am sure you will figure out, a bunch of balls flying in a really good way, some balls flying in an not so good way....

The match point of this show is however the so called real stories, they may be scripted, but all stories are of the kind that are taken from real life events, regular people, regular struggles, and a whole lot of love...

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