All Is Well (Chinese: 都挺好) is a Chinese television series that premiered on Zhejiang Television and Jiangsu Television on March 1, 2019. The series is directed by Jian Chuanhe, and stars Yao Chen, Ni Dahong, Guo Jingfei, Li Nian, Tony Yang, Gao Xin, and Gao Lu. It is an adaptation of Ah Nai's novel of the same name. The series depicts the conflicts and struggles of a white-collar worker and her family members.
Contents
Synopsis
The Su family becomes chaotic with the sudden death of Mother Su (Zhao Meilan), revealing hidden secrets. The problem of caring for the non-assertive but selfish and stingy Father Su (Su Daqiang), disrupts the peaceful life of his children and their families. Finally rid of his wife's control, Su Daqiang makes constant and excessive demands on his children. Su Mingzhe, the eldest son, returns to China from the United States, determined to support the family. He is unable to bear the burden and becomes alienated from his wife and daughter. The second son, Su Mingcheng (a NEET), has no regrets. He expects to suddenly become rich, which leads to a failure of both his career and his family. The youngest daughter, Su Mingyu, is mistreated and neglected by her parents and has severed economic ties with her family since the age of 18, eventually becoming the richest person in the Su family as a director in the Zhongcheng Group. She has vowed to draw a line in her dealings with the family, but she is dragged into the quagmire of the Su family once more. Ultimately, the Su family overcame a series of crises, gradually becoming more mature, understanding, and empathetic toward one another—and, ultimately, happy.
Cast
Main
Yao Chen as Su Mingyu (苏明玉)
An Weiwei as young Su Mingyu
The only daughter of the Su family, a businesswoman who works as a director in Zhongcheng Financial Group. Due to the mistreatment from her mother, she could not attend her dream university, Tsinghua University, and chooses to abandon her home to work part-time in a supermarket before meeting President Meng and joining Zhongcheng Group.
Ni Dahong as Su Daqiang (苏大强)
The father of the Su family. He does not have as much power as his wife, Zhao Meilan, and often neglects how she mistreats Mingyu when she was young and refuses to stand up for her. As he becomes older, he often seeks protection and care from his sons and daughters as he is not capable of living or making decisions by himself.
Guo Jingfei as Su Mingcheng (苏明成)
Li Junting as young Su Mingcheng
The second son of the Su family. Due to receiving a lot of pampering from his mother, he grows up eventually becoming less educated, arrogant, and hot-tempered, and having conflicts with Mingyu.
Li Nian as Zhu Li (朱丽), Su Mingcheng's wife. Living happily and peace with Mingcheng but facing difficulty with her father-in-law living their house over financial and investment until having irreconcilable differences with Mingcheng leading to divorce.
Tony Yang as Shi Tiandong (石天冬)
The owner of a small restaurant, Su Mingyu's love interest.
Gao Xin as Su Mingzhe (苏明哲)
Wang Cheng as young Su Mingzhe
The first son of Su family, an alumnus of Tsinghua University and Stanford University, married and living in San Francisco, California after his graduation from Stanford. He has high self-esteem and keen on face-saving, and is more caring to his family than Su Mingcheng. He also has a family with his wife, Wu Fei and daughter, Xiao Mi.
Supporting
Chen Jin as Zhao Meilan (赵美兰)
The Mother of the Su family, Su Daqiang's wife, who favours her sons over her daughter Su Mingyu. She feels discouraged and uncomfortable with her husband's financial incapability but due to her pregnancy of Mingyu, she could not leave her husband to go with another man to Shanghai. This led her to become hateful to Mingyu as she grew up. She, in the beginning, died from a heart attack of faint and excitement.
Chang Chen-kuang as President Meng/Meng Zhiyuan (蒙总/蒙志远)
Su Mingyu's teacher and boss, president of the Zhongcheng Group. Xiao Meng's father.
Wang Dong as Liu Qing (柳青)
A salesperson in the Zhongcheng Group. Su Mingyu's coworker.
Peng Yuchang as Xiao Meng (小蒙)
President Meng's son who is a reckless playboy until he is educated by Mingyu.
Kang Qunzhi as Zhu Li's mother.
Hou Changrong as Zhu Li's father.
Tian Li as Ying Shu
Wang Zhengquan as Uncle
Production
The producers hired Ah Nai (author of the novels Ode to Joy and Like a Flowing River) to work on a script.
On October 11, 2017, actors Yao Chen and Ni Dahong were cast in lead roles for the series.
Principal photography began on January 17, 2018, and wrapped in May 2018.
Most of the series was shot on location in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China while Su Mingzhe's family life is filmed in San Francisco, California, U.S. The scenes of the Su family's old house were filmed in an alley of Tongdeli (同德里). The scenes set in "Shi Hun Zhe" (食荤者) were filmed in Han'eryuan teahouse (翰尔园)(55 Daru Lane, Pingjiang Historic District, Gusu District). The village of Mingyuewan (明月湾; 'Moon Bay') served as the setting of the tea-leaf picking scene.
Reception
The show has a 7.8 out of 10 rating on Douban, and received mainly positive reviews. It has become a major trending topic on social media, with related hashtags being viewed hundreds of millions of times. Many people have praised the television series online for revealing problems and contradictions in real life, such as traditional Chinese families' preference for boys over girls (重男轻女), NEET (啃老族), and generational conflicts related to caring for the elderly (家庭养老).
Ratings
Highest ratings are marked in red, lowest ratings are marked in blue