A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower (Chinese: 摩天大楼; pinyin: Mó Tiān Dà Lóu;) is a 2020 Chinese Detective Drama starring Guo Tao, Yang Zishan, Angelababy and directed by Leste Chen and Zhaoren Xu, based off of the novel of the same name by Chen Xue.
One night, a sudden blackout strikes a towering, modern high-rise apartment building, during which Zhong Meibao (Angelababy), the beautiful owner of the coffeeshop on the ground floor, dies under mysterious circumstances. Assigned to the case are seasoned detective Zhong Jingguo (Guo Tao) and his mentee, newly arrived rookie Yang Ruisen (Yang Zishan), and over the course of their investigation, they slowly come to unravel the complex and bizarre web of relationships and mysteries connecting the various residents of the tower.
A security guard, a reclusive writer, a cleaning lady, a real estate agent, a prodigy pianist, and a rich architect and his wife...what secrets are they all hiding? And what, if anything, connects them all to Zhong Meibao?
The show, with 16 episodes, can be found on Tencent Video
with English subtitles.
This show contains examples of:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Yang Ruisen asking Zhong Jingguo if given a second chance, he would have still left his old partner to die.
- By-the-Book Cop: Liu Fei, one of Zhong Jingguo's past mentees who has since been promoted higher than him, is one of these, which is a point of contention between the two of them given Zhong Jingguo's preferred methods (though they still have a good relationship).
- Boarding School of Horrors: Where Zhong Meibao was sent after attempting to murder her stepfather for driving her mother to suicide, and where she met and became best of friends with Li Moli and Ding Xiaoling.
- Childhood Friends: Zhong Meibao and Lin Mengyu turn out to have been this, having known each other back when they were kids and living in the same poor neighborhood. Except then it's revealed that the true childhood friends were actually Zhong Meibao, Li Moli, and Ding Xiaoling, who became close through meeting at a reformatory boarding school.
- Childhood Friend Romance: It is revealed that Lin Mengyu was actually childhood friends with Zhong Meibao and had feelings for her since they were kids, leading to him cheating on his wife with her. Except...he didn't, and he wasn't.
- Cowboy Cop: Zhong Jingguo has gotten into trouble with his higher-ups several times for this, and Yang Ruisen is warned by Liu Fei to not follow in his steps.
- The Idealist: Yang Ruisen, who became a cop to uphold justice, and finds her faith challenged through the course of the investigation.
- Lecherous Stepparent: Zhong Meibao's stepfather, Yan Yongyuan, physically and sexually abused both her and her younger half brother (who was his biological son).
- Lights Off, Somebody Dies: The murder that kicks off the story (See summary above).
- Murder-Suicide: Zhong Meibao's plan to get rid of Yan Yongyuan by killing them both via carbon monoxide inhalation was one of these, though, in the end, she decides not to go through it—only to then be murdered by Yan Yongyuan instead.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: Zhong Jingguo, the seasoned detective (Old Cop) and Yang Ruisen, his plucky new mentee (Young Cop) are a textbook example of this trope.
- Plot Twist: As typical of the genre, has these in spades.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Yang Ruisen gives Zhong Jingguo one of these during their argument on what is "right" versus what is "righteous", calling him out for trying to justify sticking to his choice on leaving his former partner to die.
- The Reveal: Episode 15 when you find out that Zhong Meibao, Li Moli, and Ding Xiaoling were childhood friends all along, and there's no way Lin Mengyu was cheating on Li Moli with Zhong Meibao.
- Room Fullof Crazy: Xie Baoluo's room, which is filled with amateurishly repaired/sewed dolls and stuffed toys, appears to be this to Zhong Jingguo when he first walks in.
- Uptown Girl: Li Moli is the youngest daughter of a rich and famous architect while her husband, Lin Mengyu, grew up on the Wrong Side of the Tracks.
- Wham Line: "Officer Yang, Zhong Meibao...didn't kill herself."
- Workaholic: Yang Ruisen starts spending more and more overtime working on the case, something that starts to cause friction between her and her boyfriend.
