Suffocating Love Review: Interesting, But With Its Flaws

In the Taiwanese film Suffocating Love, a man falls in love with a woman, Pai Chia-chi and soon discovers that she has controlling tendencies. Desperate to make an exit, he falls for another girl only to realise that love can be liberating and beautiful. However, that’s not the end of his ordeal.

The romantic-comedy film has a runtime of 102 minutes.

Suffocating Love Review

In the Taiwanese romantic-comedy film Suffocating Love, Austin Lin plays M, a man without a name. On the outside, one might think that this is a fun and light-hearted film with some drama, but there are a lot of psychological elements that make this quite a serious and thrilling watch. Starting off like any other rom-com, the film unfurls its feathers as it progresses, showcasing how imperfect human beings are. M’s relationship with his live-in girlfriend Pai Chia-chi is extremely toxic although it starts off dreamy. The complete breakdown of trust is an expected outcome of their instability but still makes you feel uncomfortable the more the film progresses.

Of course, M is like many people we see in the world. Without a name, he is meant to represent anyone and everyone in reality who doesn’t have the strength to stand up for himself but is all too eager to look elsewhere when things get tough to handle. The dynamic between the two is very interesting and chilling and the film does a great job of showcasing each other their actions affect the other and make things worse. Chia-chi’s issues take over every part of M’s life to the point where he has nothing left to give. The storyline makes the situation extremely relatable and makes you question whether either of them loves each other in the truest sense of the term.

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Suffocating Love is beautifully made and the fact that it’s shot on an iPhone is extremely surprising and praiseworthy. Everything looks fantastic and director Liao Ming-yi is to be given complete credit for bringing the sheer panic and claustrophobia to the screen beautifully. The film simply flows from one scene to the other. The performances are top-notch as well. The three protagonists are fantastic; I was especially moved by how well Chloe Xiang portrayed the sheer heartbreak of realising that the person she loves the most is no longer interested in her. Meanwhile, Austin Lin, as M, portrays the smug and arrogant f-boy character extremely well. Lastly, Nikki Hsieh as Yuri Kurosawa is every bit as enigmatic and mysterious as one can imagine, given the circumstances.

In the second half of the Taiwanese film, viewers will be taken on a different kind of ride, full of an odd discomfort. M’s new life with his dream girl Yuri seems right out of a storybook. She does everything for him, is thoughtful and perceptive and, well, sleeps with him. But, of course, M isn’t interested in anything too difficult and the moment this perfect partner turns out to have some “quirks”, he’s immediately looking elsewhere. I think the film does a fantastic job of pitting two very different difficulties against each other.

The second half almost plays out like a thriller and I really enjoyed this drama-thriller-romance balance. It makes you sit up and take notice and really sets it apart from other films. However, I do have one big issue with the film – the female characters seem to have very little depth to them and are either certifiably insane or well, scarily cult-y! Although I do acknowledge that M’s character has a lot going for him, the women are just unbelievable. He either dates a woman who knows nothing other than controlling her spouse or puts spells on him to have the illusion of a perfect life. The one woman who is still a bit sane somehow needs M to get out of a loveless and mundane relationship.

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Regardless I like the message of the film that the grass is always greener on the other side and that there can never be sunshine without a little rain. It’s shown in a very over-the-top way, but it’s an important message to get regardless. In the end, we get off on an open-end but personally, I think it’s quite clear which side M ends up at.

Final Thoughts

Suffocating Love is really well made and does a great job of bringing forth the problem of being attracted to something unachievable and running from your responsibilities. The film is made beautifully and portrays its emotions well, along with its fantastic performances. I do have an issue with the female characters but maybe it makes it all the more apparent that some men just can’t look beyond their sexual fantasies in a partner.

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