Actor-turned-director Peter Ho shuns the safe path in his new HBO Asia drama series Who's By Your Side

If you've had a chance to watch the new HBO Asia original series Who's By Your Side, you might realise pretty soon that the show isn't quite what you were expecting.

Whether it's in terms of the genre — there's horror thrown into the family drama — or the characterisation, the show tosses expectations out the window.

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Case in point, where we would find a lead who is attractive, you get one who has very few redeeming qualities and he might have you wondering why his wife doesn't just leave his sorry ass.

The show might have you confused but according to director and co-writer Peter Ho, it's all intentional and part of the plan.

During a virtual interview with AsiaOne last week, the Taiwanese actor-turned-director said: "The reason I chose to be a director was to try out new things. Previously, I considered making it a pure horror film."

Just for context, the horror element in the show is due to the source material. As it turns out, Who's By Your Side was adapted from a horror novel.

Peter, 46, added: "I was thinking whether it was possible to create a mix, like you mentioned. Would audiences be overwhelmed? That is something I cannot assure. However, I now know that I have it in me to take risks."

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As for the horror elements, he added: "I kept very little of the horror elements and focused on the human nature and dynamics [in the book]... I didn't want viewers to expect jump scares, instead, I wanted to give them a feeling of mystery."

The focus of the series is on the characters' experiences and what they will face.

"I didn't want viewers to be holding popcorn and getting ready to be scared," he said.

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Who's By Your Side stars Kaiser Chuang as Zhisheng, a low-esteemed and debt-ridden car mechanic, and Vivian Hsu as Yongjie, his kind and optimistic wife who holds two jobs to make ends meet while helping to pay off his debts.

When Zhisheng makes baseless claims about his wife's infidelity, it surprises Yongjie's stepsister Yongqi (Ning Chang) and arouses her long-repressed insecurities about her own supposedly perfect marriage to Haoyuan (Ivan Chen) who comes from a wealthy and respected family.

Yongjie is also haunted by visions and dreams of a creepy young girl but we shall not say more.

The 10-episode series explores relationship issues and marital challenges, and depicts painful dilemmas for the characters through a unique lens on their daily lives.

Exploring the dark side of humanity

The show may not be a full-fledged horror flick, but it portrays the darkness in people and completely leans into it.

Like Zhisheng — he's a character who is kind of abusive, drinks a lot, and racks up gambling debts which Yongjie has to pay off by working multiple jobs.

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When asked about diving into the dark side of humanity, Peter said: "What's daring about this show is that it doesn't have boundaries. In other shows, for example, when a husband and wife quarrel, it only goes up to a certain point. But I wanted to explore what happens when someone is pushed to the brink."

As the series progresses, the characters discover more darkness in themselves, but also find ways to turn that darkness into light.

The idea to explore the dark side of people came because Peter often wonders why some people were capable of performing the ridiculous acts he read in the news. To him, it's about understanding why they do the things they do, even if you may not agree with it.

In fact, Zhisheng is based on a friend of Peter who likes to take shortcuts in life.

The ideal standard in society should be to work honestly from 9am to 5pm and reap what you sow, said Peter, but people can be lazy and easily influenced — if you gamble and win big, you don't have to work as hard.

"People are weak when it comes to temptations. So that friend of mine, he gambled everything away."

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Dark as the show and its characters may be, it can also serve as a cautionary tale and that's one of the things Peter hopes people take away from the show.

He said: "You don't necessarily need happy endings in order for viewers to take away something from the show. They can also possibly learn what not to do and reflect.

"Perhaps, they need to care for their loved ones more or communicate more with them to avoid ending up like the characters on the show."

bryanlim@asiaone.com