This Is Not What I Expected

Derek Hui's 2017 romantic comedy shuts two opposites inside the same hotel. Lu Jin is a wealthy hotel executive who interferes with every detail and approves of nothing. Gu Shengnan is a messy, easily overlooked cook in the hotel kitchen. Lu Jin is satisfied by a meal for the first time without knowing who made it, while outside the kitchen the two of them cannot stand each other. The film puts real care into its cooking scenes and builds on the idea that food can carry a conversation two people are not yet having. The mismatch between Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhou Dongyu produces exactly the pull the genre wants. It does not try to reshape the romantic comedy; it executes the shape well. Who it's for: viewers who enjoy bright, quick Chinese popular romance. Who it's not for: anyone hoping to be surprised by the story or to watch characters genuinely change.