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Timeline

Always Be with You (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2017 · 98 mins · Cantonese
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 (4)
  1. 1 Events in order (14)
  2. 2 Timeline questions answered
  3. 3 Movie threads
  4. 4 Every angle

14 events in order · contains spoilers

Always Be with You Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Always Be with You (2017) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Patrick's death begins the tragedy

    David, a taxi driver with lung cancer, collides with Patrick, the owner of a vacation property, and Patrick dies in the freak accident. Off-duty police officer Sam, his wife Si, and Sam's aunt manage to avoid the crash after the aunt warns them to steer away. The incident triggers a chain of hauntings and guilt that threads through all the characters.

    When
    Night of the accident
    Where
    Road near Patrick's vacation home
  2. Siu-hung's suicide links to Patrick's tragedy

    Siu-hung, grieving her fiancé, leaps from a building and lands on Patrick's car. Her death compounds the sense that the living and dead are entangled by the night’s events. The moment foreshadows the film's supernatural elements.

    When
    Night of the accident
    Where
    Building rooftop
  3. Chi-keung steals the bracelets

    Chi-keung, a crematorium worker overwhelmed by gambling debts, steals a pair of precious gold bracelets that belonged to Siu-hung. He plans to sell them to pay off his loans, pulling him into the immediate orbit of the other tragedies. The bracelets will repeatedly surface as evidence and motive.

    When
    Shortly after Siu-hung's death
    Where
    Crematorium
  4. The failed bracelet sale

    Chi-keung tries to sell the bracelets on the way to a buyer, but the deal falls through when the buyer is crushed by a concrete block. The bracelets fall from his possession and are discovered by others as plausible evidence. This mishap heightens tensions around his role in the broader haunting.

    When
    Shortly after theft
    Where
    On the way to meet the buyer
  5. Street accident injures Chi-keung and Siu-hung's sister

    While crossing a street, a lorry loses control and hits Chi-keung and a couple who is identified as Siu-hung's younger sister and brother-in-law. Chi-keung and the sister survive, while the bracelets fall, later retrieved by the police as evidence. The incident tightens Chi-keung's entanglement with the dead.

    When
    Same day as bracelet incident
    Where
    Street
  6. Yu Xin takes over the vacation house

    Patrick's fiancée Yu Xin, after recovering from the tragedy, decides to fulfill his last wish by running the suburban vacation house. She sets up the operation and becomes a key figure around the property. This move ties the house to many subsequent hauntings.

    When
    After Patrick's death
    Where
    Vacation house
  7. First suicides at the vacation house

    The first tenants, a couple in love, commit suicide during their stay at the vacation house. Yu Xin and Sam Si begin to investigate the scene and sense there is more at play. The haunting is established as a repeated threat to the inhabitants.

    When
    Soon after Yu Xin opens the house
    Where
    Vacation house
  8. Sam and Si encounter a disfigured spirit

    Sam accompanies Si to investigate the haunting and discovers a disfigured female spirit haunting the property. The sight deepens the mystery and signals that the dead are active in the house. The supernatural presence becomes a central obstacle for the characters.

    When
    During the investigation
    Where
    Vacation house
  9. David arrives and becomes Yu Xin's tenant

    David appears at the vacation house and offers to help Yu Xin. After initial hesitation, she accepts him as a long-term tenant, adding him into the house’s fragile, supernatural ecosystem. His involvement becomes a new thread in the story.

    When
    After Sam and Si investigate
    Where
    Vacation house
  10. Chi-keung is haunted and seeks refuge at the vacation house

    Haunted by Siu-hung's ghost, Chi-keung is forced to flee his own place. He escapes through a window and ends up at Yu Xin's vacation house, where the haunting continues to underscore the interwoven fates of the cast. His arrival intensifies the house’s eerie atmosphere.

    When
    Shortly after he learns of the hauntings
    Where
    Yu Xin's vacation house
  11. Chi-keung commits suicide; David discovers the truth

    Chi-keung tries to end his torments by gassing himself, but his death isn’t immediately discovered. David eventually finds the body and learns of Chi-keung's note indicating his terminal debts and departure. The event adds to the circle of guilt and resentment around the living.

    When
    Later
    Where
    Chi-keung's rented room
  12. The missing body and investigators probe

    The next morning Yu Xin worries about Chi-keung's absence and checks his room; his belongings are gone. This disappearance heightens anxiety and suspicion among Sam, Si, and David as they search for answers. The mystery deepens as the truth remains elusive.

    When
    Next morning
    Where
    Vacation house
  13. Partial corpse discovery and Chi-keung's ghost returns

    A portion of Chi-keung's dismembered body is found, prompting Sam and Si to question David and Yu Xin about their last meetings with him. Chi-keung's ghost appears, and it becomes clear that David had disposed of the body but did not burn it as Chi-keung had requested. The air thickens with fear and guilt.

    When
    Later that day
    Where
    Vacation house / surrounding area
  14. The three-week reveal and the fatal crash

    That night, Sam reveals to Si that he has been dead for three weeks since the accident. Two men from the otherworld appear and drag Sam away, confirming the spectral nature of the events. In the same night, a passing lorry strike Jamie, and Sam dies at the scene, concluding the chain of fatal hauntings.

    When
    Night of the reveal and crash
    Where
    Street near the vacation house

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 15:57

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Timeline questions answered

Always Be with You Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Always Be with You (2017): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with 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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