# This Is Not What I Expected
**This Is Not What I Expected** (喜欢·你) is a 2017 Chinese romantic comedy directed by Derek Hui (许宏宇) and starring [Takeshi Kaneshiro](https://www.edgepedia.org/takeshi-kaneshiro) and [Zhou Dongyu](https://www.edgepedia.org/zhou-dongyu) as a fastidious hotel-acquisition billionaire and the scatterbrained sous chef whose cooking wins him over.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) Produced by Peter Chan Ho-sun and Xu Yuezhen, it was released in mainland China on April 27, 2017 and earned about 210 million yuan there, roughly $30.7 million of its $31.0 million worldwide total.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr2803847685/) • [3](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/rankings/year?year=2017)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 喜欢·你 (also styled 喜欢．你); English title This Is Not What I Expected[4](https://www.cpophome.com/this-is-not-what-i-expected-takeshi-kaneshiro-zhou-dongyu/) |
| Director / producers | Derek Hui, his directorial debut; produced by Peter Chan and Xu Yuezhen[5](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/1679) |
| Source | Adapted from the novel *Zhong Yu Deng Dao Ni* (终于等到你) by web novelist Lan Bai Se[4](https://www.cpophome.com/this-is-not-what-i-expected-takeshi-kaneshiro-zhou-dongyu/) |
| Leads | Takeshi Kaneshiro as Lu Jin; Zhou Dongyu as Gu Shengnan[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) |
| Release | China April 27, 2017; US limited release May 5, 2017 through Well Go USA[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr2803847685/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) |
| Box office | $30,658,945 in China (98.9% of the total); $337,670 in the United States; $30,996,615 worldwide[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr2803847685/) |
| Reception | 78% Tomatometer (9 reviews) and 87% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 6.7/10 on IMDb[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) • [6](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/80187205) |
| Awards | 6 wins and 14 nominations, including a Golden Horse Award nomination for Best Visual Effects[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6772874/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and source material
The story follows Gu Shengnan (Zhou Dongyu), a 29-year-old sous chef at the Western restaurant of the Broadway (Rosebud) Hotel in Shanghai. Secretly involved with the hotel's general manager, she loses both the relationship and, when the hotel falls into financial crisis and becomes an acquisition target, nearly her job.[4](https://www.cpophome.com/this-is-not-what-i-expected-takeshi-kaneshiro-zhou-dongyu/) Lu Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is the eccentric, sharp-tongued president of an international hotel group who checks in to evaluate the property for purchase. Disappointed with everything he sees, he is won over by a last-minute dish Gu Shengnan improvises, and the two begin exchanging dishes and critiques without knowing each other's identity, while in person every encounter ends in chaos.[8](https://www.moviexclusive.com/movie/this-is-not-what-i-expected-219162742620320-2017)
The film is adapted from the novel *Zhong Yu Deng Dao Ni* (终于等到你) by the web novelist Lan Bai Se.[4](https://www.cpophome.com/this-is-not-what-i-expected-takeshi-kaneshiro-zhou-dongyu/) Reviewers noted how faithfully it follows the "domineering CEO falls for the quirky girl" formula; the Chinese Film Reporters and Screenwriters association account of Peter Chan's comments records that the two screenwriters, Li Yuan and Xu Yimeng, reshaped the novel into a structure he described as a competent Hollywood-style screenplay.[9](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0407/c14677-29195564.html)
## Food as the film's language
Food carries the romance throughout. Critics singled out the opening steak on the grill, precisely timed instant-ramen instructions, a montage of egg dishes, and a hallucinatory sequence triggered by blowfish toxin in which the meal leaps off the plate shouting "stupid humans!".[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) • [10](https://screenzealots.com/2017/06/12/this-is-not-what-i-expected/) The Film Society of Lincoln Center's New York Asian Film Festival notes described the relationship as one in which "food standing in for sex", and compared the leads' comic ease to classic screwball pairings.[11](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/this-is-not-what-i-expected/) Director Derek Hui said in an interview that the project began with the novel's pairing of food and love, and that the central challenge was making cinema audiences feel appetite through the design of dishes, cooking, and eating.[12](https://www.filmaker.cn/thread-72892-1-1.html)
## Production and director
Derek Hui, a graduate of the School of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong, began his career as an editor on Peter Chan's *The Warlords* and cut *Bodyguards and Assassins*, *[Wu Xia](https://www.edgepedia.org/wu-xia)*, *Dearest*, and *Soul Mate* (*July and Ansheng*) before making this, his first film as director.[5](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/1679) Chan, who had produced *[Soul Mate](https://www.edgepedia.org/soul-mate-2016-film)* the year before, cast Zhou Dongyu opposite Kaneshiro precisely because they seemed mismatched on paper; Hui recalled that this incongruity was the story the film wanted to tell.[12](https://www.filmaker.cn/thread-72892-1-1.html) The supporting cast includes Sun Yizhou, Ming Xi, Tony Yang, and [Lin Chi-ling](https://www.edgepedia.org/lin-chi-ling).[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) • [4](https://www.cpophome.com/this-is-not-what-i-expected-takeshi-kaneshiro-zhou-dongyu/) The theme song was performed by Cheer Chen with lyrics by the writer Han Han.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6772874/awards/)
## Release and box office
The film opened in mainland China on April 27, 2017, ranking 62nd on the year's domestic box-office chart with 210.78 million yuan.[3](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/rankings/year?year=2017) Within its first week it passed 147 million yuan, with the Maoyan audience score rising from 8.8 to 8.9.[13](https://ent.cnr.cn/gd/20170504/t20170504_523737680.shtml) Well Go USA gave it a limited North American theatrical release on May 5, 2017, followed by streaming release on October 14, 2017; the US gross was $337,670, about 1.1% of the worldwide total.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) • [2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr2803847685/) It also screened at the 2017 New York Asian Film Festival.[11](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/this-is-not-what-i-expected/)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to positive. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 78% Tomatometer from 9 reviews and an 87% audience score.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post gave it 2.5/4 and called it "an engagingly goofy romantic comedy" that "speaks the international language of food"; Louisa Moore of Screen Zealots gave 3.5/5 and called it "the perfect foodie meet-cute"; Emilie Black of Cinema Crazed gave 5/5.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter and Gary Goldstein of The Los Angeles Times both found the central love story unconvincing.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected) Edmund Lee of the [South China Morning Post](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-china-morning-post) gave 3/5, judging it "more food porn than romantic comedy" and finding neither star at their best.[14](https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2092681/film-review-not-what-i-expected-takeshi-kaneshiro-zhou-dongyu?module=inline&pgtype=article) Chinese commentary was warmer: a China Writers Network review credited the film with making a hackneyed "CEO romance" premise feel fresh through its food-centered storytelling.[15](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2017/0511/c404004-29268056.html)
## Awards
The film received 6 wins and 14 nominations.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6772874/awards/) Zhou Dongyu won Best Actress from the China Film Directors' Guild, the Tencent Video Jury Award, the Weibo Movie Award, and the Guangzhou Student Film Festival's Students' Choice Award, and was nominated for Best Actress at the Asian Film Awards.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6772874/awards/) Derek Hui won Best New Director honors at the Golden Kite Awards and the Weibo Movie Awards, and was nominated in that category at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Asian Film Awards.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6772874/awards/) The film itself was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 2017 Golden Horse Film Festival and for Best Costume and Make Up Design and Best Original Film Song at the 2018 Hong Kong Film Awards.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6772874/awards/)
## Later adaptation
The story returned to the screen as the 2020 television series *Dating in the Kitchen* (我，喜欢你), produced with the participation of Chengxin Media, whose executive noted that the 2017 film had performed well and that the team trusted the underlying story's vitality.[16](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_9955326)
## References
1. [This Is Not What I Expected, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_not_what_i_expected)
2. [This Is Not What I Expected, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr2803847685/)
3. [2017年影片总票房排行榜, Maoyan](https://piaofang.maoyan.com/rankings/year?year=2017)
4. [This Is Not What I Expected – Chinese Movie 2017, CPOP HOME](https://www.cpophome.com/this-is-not-what-i-expected-takeshi-kaneshiro-zhou-dongyu/)
5. [喜歡．你 This Is Not What I Expected!, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/about/archive/detail/1679)
6. [This is Not What I Expected on Netflix USA, New On Netflix](https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/80187205)
7. [This Is Not What I Expected (2017) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6772874/awards/)
8. [THIS IS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED (喜欢你) (2017), MovieXclusive](https://www.moviexclusive.com/movie/this-is-not-what-i-expected-219162742620320-2017)
9. [与金城武合作《喜欢你》陈可辛谈理想中经典爱情片, 人民网](https://media.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0407/c14677-29195564.html)
10. ["This Is Not What I Expected", Screen Zealots](https://screenzealots.com/2017/06/12/this-is-not-what-i-expected/)
11. [This Is Not What I Expected, Film at Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/this-is-not-what-i-expected/)
12. [专访《喜欢你》导演许宏宇与摄影指导余静萍, 拍电影filmaker.cn](https://www.filmaker.cn/thread-72892-1-1.html)
13. [《喜欢你》票房口碑双收, 央广网](https://ent.cnr.cn/gd/20170504/t20170504_523737680.shtml)
14. [Film review: This Is Not What I Expected, South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2092681/film-review-not-what-i-expected-takeshi-kaneshiro-zhou-dongyu?module=inline&pgtype=article)
15. [甜而不齁的烟火气，才是电影《喜欢·你》成功的奥义, 中国作家网](https://www.chinawriter.com.cn/n1/2017/0511/c404004-29268056.html)
16. [《我，喜欢你》火热背后的做剧秘方, 澎湃新闻](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_9955326)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2017 to 2018 › Titles K to W*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license