What a viewIn Who’s By Your Side, Taiwanese thriller on HBO, relationship problems meet supernatural horror, while Succession is King Lear for the Murdoch era
- Taiwanese series Who’s By Your Side makes for a tough, suspenseful watch as a family’s woes are exacerbated by glimpses of a ghostly girl and fears of a curse
- Another family is at war in the third series of Succession on HBO as the question of who takes over the Waystar Royco empire from CEO Logan Roy continues
Some seemingly supernatural horrors collide with those of real-world debt and dishonour in Taiwanese thriller Who’s By Your Side (continuing on HBO and HBO Go).
Beginning with a passage of sinister bloodletting in an isolated house that may be haunted, the unsettling 10-part series, from director Peter Ho, switches to deal with the domestic trials and tribulations of the beatific, forgiving Yong-jie (Vivian Hsu) and her wastrel husband Zhi-sheng (Kaiser Chuang).
She is a sometime supermarket assistant who balances two jobs to make ends meet; he is a gambling-addicted drunkard and car scrapyard worker who squanders the family savings and provokes their daughter into running away from home.
Not surprising, then, that psychiatric problems, auditory hallucinations and fears of a curse start to bog down this dutiful wife. Consequently, Zhi-sheng is despised by Yong-jie’s stepsister, Yong-qi (Ning Chang), who enjoys an affluent lifestyle with the wealthy Hao-yuan (Ivan Chen) – but it transpires their marriage might not be perfect either.
What is surprising is that the loser Zhi-sheng, increasingly tormented by mawkish reminiscences when it’s too late to affect any outcomes, does try to make amends; he even feels compassion for animals, so perhaps there is some hope for him.
Who’s By Your Side shows what existence might be like trapped in a sometimes violent union where the alcohol consumption (on one side) is out of control and threats from loan sharks, plus savage beatings, destroy any prospect of a quiet life. Which makes for a tough, suspenseful watch – especially when glimpses of a ghostly girl and suggestions of black magic come into play.