The Ghost Bride: All Episodes

February 1, 2020 8:46 PM - Season 1 (Full Season)

Set in 1890's Colonial Malacca, a Malaysian Chinese woman accepts a marriage proposal from a wealthy family to be the "ghost bride" to their deceased son - an opportunity that would save her family from a lifetime of debt, but require her to spend the rest of her days haunted by a ghostly spouse. Desperate to escape the situation, she soon finds herself wrapped up in a murder mystery and embroiled in otherworldly affairs far bigger than she could have imagined.

Currently available for streaming on Netflix.

posted by Literaryhero (8 comments total)

This is probably not for everyone, but it is so perfectly for me. I love just about everything about this.
posted by Literaryhero at 8:48 PM on February 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

I just read the book a few days ago, and watched half of the first episode. A bit surprised at some of the changes they've made, as I'd thought when reading the book that some of the later reveals would be great on screen. But I'm looking forward to watching the rest of it. I'm not a binge-r, and I have a busy week ahead, but will be back once I've had a chance to watch the series.
posted by tavegyl at 9:05 PM on February 1, 2020

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I didn't know they made it into a TV show. Can't wait.
posted by rednikki at 1:35 AM on February 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

I still haven't finished this because the mandarin felt too alien for my experience but I get why. The worldbuilding is half accurate half CW (eg her outfit lolol) but I can roll with it.
posted by cendawanita at 3:00 AM on February 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

Hype - Get To Know The 9 Main Characters In The Ghost Bride

msn entertainment - Netflix’s ‘Ghost Bride’ directors say Malaysia has lots to offer, after shoot in Ipoh, Taiping and Johor

Decider review - Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Ghost Bride’ On Netflix, A Malaysian/Taiwanese Drama About A Woman Who Marries A Dead Guy To Find His Killer
posted by oh yeah! at 3:55 PM on February 2, 2020

Just finished the season, didn't realize it was based on a book. Overall, I liked it. It's a weird mix of contemporary+period -- the costuming kinda reminds me of the 'Mary Queen of Scots, by way of Hot Topic' thing that "Reign" did. Like, the costumes were pretty, but the fabrics looked very synthetic. From the behind-the-scenes video in the Hype article above, it seems like that was a deliberate choice of the production though. It was kind of distracting to me in the beginning, but I guess they won me over eventually.

Really loved Er Lang.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:18 PM on February 2, 2020

Definitely there's that Reign vibe. If anyone is interested what the actual languages the Peranakan would be using in that period, this opinion piece by Karim Raslan ('there’s more to the Chinese diaspora than Mandarin') might be interesting (he is critiquing that aspect but yea, Reign).
posted by cendawanita at 5:07 PM on February 2, 2020

I like this. Pros: good story, very good acting. Cons: cheese cgi, distractingly eclectic soundtrack.
posted by j_curiouser at 8:49 AM on February 4, 2020