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Always Be with You (2017) movie poster

Plot Summary

Always Be with You (2017) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
2017 · 98 mins · Cantonese
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Directed by
Herman Yau
Starring
Louis Koo, Aaron Chow, Tony Ho, Charlene Choi, Lam Suet, Kingdom Yuen King-Tan

Taxi driver David receives a devastating terminal cancer diagnosis. After a car accident, he inadvertently kills hotel owner Patrick. Patrick’s girlfriend takes over the lakeside hotel in Hong Kong, but a series of disturbing and seemingly connected suicides soon begins to affect the establishment and its guests, drawing David into a complex and unsettling situation.

On this page (5)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 What happens: full plot
  3. 3 Plot questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Every angle
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Full plot summary · contains spoilers

What Happens in Always Be with You: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of Always Be with You (2017) explained, from the opening scene to the final frame: every key event, every twist and what it all adds up to. Read it as a quick recap before the sequel, to check a scene you missed, or to finally understand what really happened.

David, a taxi driver with lung cancer, Julian Cheung kills vacation property owner Patrick in a freak car accident. Off-duty police officer Sam, Louis Koo, his wife Si, and Sam's aunt seem to narrowly escape the collision after Sam's aunt warns him to drive away from the road they are on. Simultaneously, Siu-hung, who has just broken off her fiancé, commits suicide by leaping from a building, the impact resonating with Patrick’s fate as her body lands on top of his car. The film sets a tone of interconnected tragedy where the living and the dead share a disturbing space, and every decision echoes in unexpected, haunting ways.

Chi-keung, a crematorium worker crushed by mounting gambling debts, attempts to steady his life by theft, stealing a pair of valuable gold bracelets—the funerary objects of Siu-hung—to pay off his mounting obligations. He fails to offload the bracelets when the buyer is crushed by a concrete block in transit. Later, while crossing a street, a lorry veers off course and strikes Chi-keung along with a couple who are Siu-hung’s younger sister and brother-in-law. Chi-keung and Siu-hung’s sister survive the crash, and the bracelets slip loose during his unconsciousness, only to be retrieved by the police as crucial evidence. The combination of debt, theft, and a brush with death threads Chi-keung’s fate tightly to the more mysterious happenings surrounding Patrick and Siu-hung’s tragedy.

Meanwhile, Patrick’s fiancée, Yu Xin, after weathering the initial shock, hopes to fulfill Patrick’s last wish by running a suburban vacation house. Yet the new venture is haunted by a series of unsettling events. The first tenants, a loving young couple, die by suicide during their stay, and Sam accompanies Si to the scene, where they sense the presence of a disfigured female spirit. Later, David appears at the vacation home offering help to Yu Xin; she initially declines, but after a time, she accepts him as a long-term tenant. The house becomes a locus of spectral activity, turning Patrick’s dream into a corridor of echoes and unanswered questions.

Back home, Chi-keung is tormented by Siu-hung’s ghost while loan sharks circle his life, pressing him with threats and the weight of his debts. He escapes through a window and ends up at Yu Xin’s vacation home, where despair drives him toward a self-destructive act via gas. David discovers him and later informs Yu Xin that Chi-keung is gone, a truth complicated by Chi-keung’s belongings disappearing from the room. The next morning, Yu Xin grows anxious about Chi-keung’s absence and fears another suicide. Accompanied by David, she enters Chi-keung’s rented room only to find it empty and his belongings gone.

As days pass, a portion of Chi-keung’s dismembered body is discovered, and Sam and Si return to Yu Xin’s property to question David and Yu Xin about Chi-keung’s fate. David and Yu Xin deny ever having met him; that night, Sam sees Chi-keung’s ghost, and it becomes clear that David disposed of Chi-keung’s body but did not burn it as Chi-keung’s final note had requested. In a shocking turn, David surrenders to the police and then takes his own life in his cell, leaving behind a note to Yu Xin that explains his terminal illness and his symbolic, final act of self-destruction.

The mystery deepens when Sam discovers singer Jamie’s vinyl, a gift from Jamie to her uncle that Si had found at a second-hand shop, and the vinyl appears haunted in Sam and Si’s apartment. They eventually decide to return it to the shop owner—Jamie’s uncle—relinquishing the haunted object and the personal history tied to it. The cycle of haunting and revelation continues as the couple confronts the toll these spirits take on their relationship and their understanding of the living world’s boundaries.

In the quiet moments that punctuate the night, Sam questions Si about what she would do if he were to leave her, a question that unsettles Si due to the strange change in Sam’s behavior since the night of the accident. Their bond tightens in fear and love as Sam’s warning about the unseen intensifies. Then, as two men approach, Sam breaks from Si’s embrace and runs, while Si gives chase and trains her gun on the men, dragging Sam away by his arms. The truth unfolds: Sam reveals that he has been dead for three weeks since the night of the crash—the living world has blurred into the other side for him.

That night, after avoiding the collision, the sequence of events reveals the fateful crash from a different vantage point. A passing car—the second-hand shop owner, his wife, and Jamie—witnesses the moment Jamie leans out to capture the accident; Jamie is struck by a lorry from the opposite direction. Jamie’s torso is ripped away in the impact, and Sam’s skull is pierced by a long, upright nail, ending the living man’s life. In the final, quiet moment, the film locates the boundary between life and death, memory and loss, and the way one fatal event returns through the echoes of the past to shape the present in a landscape where the dead linger just beyond sight.

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 15:57

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Plot questions answered

Always Be with You Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about Always Be with You (2017): what happens in the confusing scenes, why the characters do what they do, the twists, hidden details and what the ending means. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Why did Siu-hung land on Patrick's car during the accident

Siu-hung had just broken off her engagement and was grieving. On the same night as Patrick's fatal accident, she committed suicide by leaping from a building. The timing and proximity of her death to Patrick's collision was coincidental but thematically linked, her body landed on Patrick's car, creating the film's sense of interconnected tragedy where the deaths of strangers become entangled.

  • siu-hung
  • patrick
  • suicide
  • car accident
  • coincidence
Q2

What happened to Chi-keung at Yu Xin's vacation house

Chi-keung, haunted by Siu-hung's ghost and pursued by loan sharks, fled to Yu Xin's vacation house and attempted suicide by gassing himself. David discovered his body and, knowing Chi-keung was already dead, disposed of it rather than burning it as Chi-keung's note requested. When investigators later found Chi-keung's dismembered body, David and Yu Xin denied ever meeting him.

Foreshadowing: Chi-keung's earlier theft of Siu-hung's gold bracelets tied him to her spirit.

  • chi-keung
  • vacation house
  • suicide
  • david
  • body disposal
Q3

How was Sam actually dead throughout the story

Sam, the off-duty police officer, died in the same collision that killed Patrick. While his aunt warned him to avoid the road, Sam was struck by a long nail that pierced his skull during the crash. He existed in a blurred state between the living and dead world for three weeks, unaware of his own death, until two spectral figures dragged him away. His wife Si learned the truth when Sam finally revealed he had been dead since that night.

Foreshadowing: Sam's strange behavior change after the accident and his ominous question about what Si would do if he left her foreshadowed his death.

  • sam
  • dead
  • three weeks
  • crash
  • si
  • reveal
Q4

Why did the first tenants commit suicide at the vacation house

The young couple who became the first guests at Yu Xin's vacation house died by suicide during their stay. The house was already haunted by the lingering spirits of Patrick and Siu-hung, both of whom died violently on the same night. Their presence created a toxic spiritual atmosphere that drove the couple to take their own lives, establishing the vacation house as a locus of supernatural corruption.

  • couple
  • suicide
  • vacation house
  • yu xin
  • haunting
Q5

What were the gold bracelets Chi-keung stole from the crematorium

Chi-keung stole a pair of valuable gold bracelets that were funerary objects belonging to Siu-hung, the woman who committed suicide. He planned to sell them to pay off his mounting gambling debts. The bracelets became crucial evidence, during a subsequent street accident where Chi-keung was hit by a lorry along with Siu-hung's younger sister and brother-in-law, the bracelets fell from his possession and were retrieved by police.

Foreshadowing: The bracelets tied Chi-keung directly to Siu-hung's spirit, which began haunting him after the theft.

  • gold bracelets
  • chi-keung
  • siu-hung
  • crematorium
  • theft
Q6

How did David dispose of Chi-keung's body

After discovering Chi-keung's suicide by gas at the vacation house, David removed the body rather than leaving it to be found. He did not burn it as Chi-keung's final note had requested, which contributed to Chi-keung's spirit remaining restless. When Sam and Si later discovered portions of Chi-keung's dismembered body, David and Yu Xin denied any knowledge of the incident.

  • david
  • chi-keung
  • body
  • disposal
  • vacation house
Q7

What happened to Jamie in the final accident scene

Jamie, a singer whose haunted vinyl had been troubling Sam and Si, was in a passing car with her uncle (the second-hand shop owner) and his wife on the night of the crash. As Jamie leaned out to photograph the accident scene, she was struck by a lorry coming from the opposite direction. The impact ripped her torso away, killing her instantly, the same crash that finally killed Sam.

Foreshadowing: The haunted vinyl Jamie gave her uncle had connected her to the supernatural events throughout the film.

  • jamie
  • accident
  • lorry
  • torso
  • second-hand shop
Q8

Why did David decide to take his own life

David was already terminally ill with lung cancer when he accidentally killed Patrick in the car accident. After disposing of Chi-keung's body and being consumed by guilt, David surrendered to the police and then took his own life in his cell. He left a note for Yu Xin explaining his terminal diagnosis and his final act of self-destruction as a symbolic release from his suffering.

Foreshadowing: David's initial motivation to help Yu Xin at the vacation house stemmed from his guilt over killing Patrick.

  • david
  • suicide
  • cancer
  • guilt
  • police
  • note
Q9

How did Patrick die in the car accident

Patrick, the owner of the vacation property, was killed in a freak car accident when David, a taxi driver with lung cancer, collided with his vehicle. The impact occurred on a road near Patrick's vacation home. This tragedy set in motion the entire chain of events, Patrick's fiancée Yu Xin took over the property, and the location became haunted by the interconnected spirits of those who died that night.

  • patrick
  • david
  • car accident
  • vacation house
Q10

What caused the chain of suicides at the vacation house

The vacation house became infected by the violent deaths of Patrick and Siu-hung, who both perished on the same night near the property. Their spirits remained attached to the location, creating a corrupting spiritual atmosphere that influenced subsequent guests. The young couple who committed suicide were the first victims, followed by Chi-keung who sought refuge there and took his own life. The house functioned as a spiritual focal point where the boundaries between life and death were severely weakened.

  • vacation house
  • suicides
  • haunting
  • patrick
  • siu-hung
  • spirits
Q11

Why did Sam's aunt warn him to drive away from the road

Sam's aunt sensed something supernatural or dangerous on the road that night and warned Sam to steer away. This warning saved Sam's wife Si and his aunt from the immediate collision, though Sam himself was still struck and killed in the crash. The aunt's premonition highlighted the film's theme of spirits attempting to communicate with the living and the thin boundary between worlds.

Foreshadowing: This warning established that some characters had sensitivity to the spiritual realm.

  • sam
  • aunt
  • warning
  • road
  • accident
  • avoid

Movie threads

More Movies Like Always Be with You, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Always Be with You tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies with interwoven fates like Always Be with You

Stories where disparate lives collide under the shadow of inescapable fate. Discover movies like Always Be with You, where seemingly separate stories of guilt and misfortune converge into a single, tragic narrative. These films often feature complex plots, supernatural hauntings, and a pervasive sense of doom, creating a deeply unsettling viewing experience for fans of intricate, dark thrillers.

  • haunting
  • fated
  • interconnected
  • somber
  • tragic
  • uncanny
  • Tone: dark, melancholic, bleak
  • Pacing: variable, unfolding
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Narratives in this thread typically follow multiple characters whose paths cross due to a shared calamity or crime. The plot unravels the intricate connections between them, often revealing that their fates were linked long before they realized it. The journey is one of uncovering hidden truths, leading to a climax that emphasizes the inescapability of their collective tragedy.

Why they belong together: These movies are grouped together because they share a specific narrative architecture of interconnected plots, a dark tone centered on guilt and consequence, and a thematic focus on fate. They create a similar experience of piecing together a puzzle where every piece reveals a more depressing and hopeless picture.

Atmospheric horror movies with heavy themes like Always Be with You

Films where a heavy atmosphere of grief and guilt slowly consumes the characters. If you liked the heavy, melancholic atmosphere of Always Be with You, explore these similar horror movies. They focus on psychological unease, themes of terminal illness and suicide, and a pervasive sense of grief that creates a deeply somber and haunting vibe, perfect for fans of mood-driven horror.

  • oppressive
  • melancholic
  • anxious
  • somber
  • eerie
  • psychological
  • Tone: dark, somber, melancholic
  • Pacing: slow burn, variable
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories in this thread often follow a protagonist grappling with profound personal loss, guilt, or a terminal diagnosis. The external world reflects their internal state, becoming a source of supernatural or psychological torment. The narrative pace allows the dread to simmer, focusing on the character's gradual psychological unraveling rather than fast-paced action.

Why they belong together: These films are united by their overwhelming atmospheric pressure, a focus on heavy themes like grief and mortality, and a tone that is consistently dark and somber. The viewing experience is defined by a shared feeling of melancholic anxiety and a focus on the psychological impact of tragedy.

Every angle

Always Be with You (2017) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Always Be with You in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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