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L for Love, L for Lies Too (2016) movie poster

Plot Summary

L for Love, L for Lies Too (2016) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
2016 · 109 mins · Cantonese
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Directed by
Patrick Kong
Starring
Nora Miao, Tenky Tin Kai-Man, Stephy Tang Lai-Yan, Chi-Shan Lai, Wilfred Lau Ho-Lung, Oscar Li Ka

On the night that Bo finds his boyfriend Sun cheating on her, she befriends Louis, a professional swindler who ends up recruiting her to join his entourage.

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 L for Love, L for Lies Too: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of L for Love, L for Lies Too (2016) 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.

Kwong Mei-Bo, Stephy Tang Lai-Yan, is on a hopeful path after college, pouring her energy into a sweets shop she opens with her longtime boyfriend, Jun, dreaming of a future that includes marriage once the business is stable. The early days feel bright and manageable as Bo balances hard work with a sense that love and life might be neatly aligned.

That serenity is knocked off balance when Kei Kei, Bo’s old Taiwanese classmate, enters the scene with a reckless hunger for Jun. Kei Kei’s charm masks a self-centered aim to steal Jun away, and Bo finds herself facing a betrayal that cuts deep. The pain isn’t limited to romance—the shock ripples through Bo’s livelihood as she watches the sweets shop she built with care wobble under the weight of broken trust.

Trying to pick up the pieces, Bo shifts gears and takes a job as a make-up artist in a mall. There, her world expands in new directions as she navigates workplace dynamics and personal vows. At a party hosted by her boss, something unfamiliar surfaces: the announcement of an engagement. The moment opens old wounds and sets Bo on a path toward a complicated plan when she encounters Keung again. Keung is a practiced conman, someone Bo had once known in passing, and the sight rekindles old cautions while hinting at a chance for something different.

Driven by a mix of hurt, curiosity, and a desire for closure, Bo agrees to a risky arrangement: she enlists Keung to pose as a foil to Kei Kei, hoping the ruse will teach Kei Kei a hard lesson and, perhaps, reveal a cleaner truth about love and loyalty. Keung’s talent for manipulation proves effective, drawing Kei Kei further into his orbit and testing Bo’s own boundaries about what she’s willing to forgive.

Meanwhile, Bo’s life runs parallel to a web of personal struggles. Ah-Man, Bo’s friend who often bounces between relationships, grapples with the fragility of affection and the gap it creates with her own partner. Fung, Ah-Man’s slow-and-steady boyfriend, finds himself torn as he navigates competing loyalties and the weight of past mistakes. The relationships in Bo’s circle become a mirror for the bigger question: can love survive the pressures of deception, miscommunication, and the ego’s loud desires?

Keung’s deception around Kei Kei is eventually exposed, unraveling a scheme that had seemed airtight. Kei Kei, caught in the crossfire of this tangled game, absorbs a painful truth about the consequences of chasing wealth over honesty. Back at the sweets shop, the fallout from the scheme strikes hard enough to push Jun toward a difficult reckoning with Bo. The pair tentatively reconnect, choosing to give their relationship another chance even as the smoke from earlier lies still lingers.

Yet the plot takes a stark turn when Keung’s criminal past and his scheme collide with violence. After a failed kidnapping attempt by his cronies, Keung is mortally wounded and drags himself toward Bo’s world in a final, hopeful but doomed bid to confess his love. He collapses nearby, a blunt reminder of how far lies can travel before truth has a chance to heal.

In the end, Bo and Ah-Man do cross paths in real life, but the truth lands with a twist: Ah-Man’s new boyfriend is Jun, the very person Bo thought she was leaving behind. The film closes with a quiet, bittersweet meditation on love and lies, suggesting that true care for another often hides in acts that aren’t flashy or perfect. If there’s a verdict, it’s that love can reveal itself through the things we do for those who matter, even when those actions are wrapped in deception or measured by the risk of loss. The final image lingers on the idea that honesty, forgiveness, and the courage to let go when needed may be the truest expressions of love, even as the heart wrestles with what it has chosen to protect.

Last updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:46

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Plot questions answered

L for Love, L for Lies Too Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about L for Love, L for Lies Too (2016): 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 does Bo ask Keung to pursue Kei Kei?

Bo hires Keung, a professional conman she previously knew, to pose as a romantic interest for Kei Kei as a way to get revenge for Kei Kei stealing her boyfriend Jun. Driven by hurt and betrayal, Bo hopes the scheme will teach Kei Kei a lesson about chasing unavailable men and expose what Kei Kei truly values in a relationship.

Foreshadowing: The party where an engagement is announced triggers Bo's desire to test whether love based on honesty differs from love built on lies.

  • Keung
  • Kei Kei
  • revenge plot
  • conman
  • betrayal
Q2

How does Kei Kei get caught in Keung's trap?

Kei Kei falls for Keung's charm and manipulation, not realizing it's a deliberate setup orchestrated by Bo. Keung's skills as a conman allow him to convincingly pose as a wealthy, attractive suitor, drawing Kei Kei deeper into the relationship until the truth is exposed.

Foreshadowing: The summary notes Keung's 'talent for manipulation' that 'draws Kei Kei further into his orbit.'

  • Kei Kei
  • Keung
  • con
  • manipulation
  • trap
Q3

What happens to Keung in the climax?

Keung's criminal past catches up with him when his former associates attempt to kidnap him. During the failed kidnapping, Keung is mortally wounded. He manages to drag himself toward Bo's location in a final attempt to confess his love for her before collapsing and dying.

Foreshadowing: The timeline notes Keung's 'criminal past' and 'scheme collide with violence' earlier in the narrative.

  • Keung death
  • kidnapping
  • criminal past
  • climax
Q4

Why does Bo decide to forgive Jun?

After the fallout from Keung's scheme unravels and Jun confronts the situation, Bo chooses to give their relationship another chance. The summary indicates they 'tentatively reconnect' despite the 'smoke from earlier lies still lingers,' suggesting Bo recognizes that their years together and the sweets shop they built represent something worth preserving.

Foreshadowing: The sweets shop early in the story represents Bo and Jun's shared dream and foundation.

  • Jun
  • forgiveness
  • reconciliation
  • relationship
Q5

How does Ah-Man end up with Jun at the end?

In the film's final twist, Bo and Ah-Man cross paths in real life and Bo discovers that Ah-Man's new boyfriend is Jun, the very person Bo thought she had left behind. This revelation comes after Bo and Jun had tentatively reconciled, adding another layer of betrayal and complicating the story's exploration of loyalty and love.

Foreshadowing: Ah-Man's relationship with Fung was already struggling with 'competing loyalties and the weight of past mistakes.'

  • Ah-Man
  • Jun
  • twist ending
  • revelation
  • betrayal
Q6

Why does Kei Kei want to steal Jun from Bo?

Kei Kei, described as having 'a reckless hunger for Jun,' pursues him despite knowing he is in a long-term relationship with Bo. The summary characterizes her motives as selfish, she wants Jun for herself, and her charm masks this self-centered aim to take what Bo has built over years.

Foreshadowing: Kei Kei's arrival 'with a plan' suggests calculated intention rather than spontaneous attraction.

  • Kei Kei
  • Jun
  • infidelity
  • motivation
  • stealing boyfriend
Q7

Why does Keung agree to help Bo with her plan?

Keung agrees to assist Bo partly because of their prior connection and possibly romantic interest in her. However, his underlying motivation remains complex, he is a conman who sees opportunity in manipulation. His eventual confession of love for Bo suggests genuine feelings developed during the scheme, though his methods remain questionable.

Foreshadowing: Keung's presence 'hints at a different path forward' when Bo encounters him at the party.

  • Keung
  • motivation
  • conman
  • help Bo
  • feelings
Q8

What is the film's message about love and lies?

The ending suggests that love can survive deception, but only through honesty, forgiveness, and sometimes the courage to let go. The final message emphasizes that 'true care for another often hides in acts that aren't flashy or perfect,' and that 'honesty, forgiveness, and the courage to let go when needed may be the truest expressions of love.'

Foreshadowing: The entire narrative uses deception as both a weapon and a mirror to test genuine feelings.

  • theme
  • ending message
  • love
  • lies
  • honesty
  • forgiveness
Q9

Why does Keung die right after confessing his feelings?

Keung dies because his criminal past finally catches up with him. His former associates attempt a kidnapping, which goes wrong and leaves him fatally wounded. His death serves as a stark reminder of how far lies can travel before the truth catches up, and his final act of confessing love to Bo represents a moment of genuine honesty amid his lifetime of deception.

Foreshadowing: The summary describes how 'lies can travel farther than truth has a chance to heal.'

  • Keung death
  • confession
  • criminal past
  • consequences
Q10

What does the sweets shop represent in the story?

The sweets shop represents Bo's dreams, hard work, and the life she built with Jun. It starts as a hopeful symbol of their future together, wavers when the betrayal destabilizes her life, and ultimately remains standing as a 'symbol of resilience despite the scars of deceit.' The shop's survival reflects Bo's ability to rebuild trust and pursue honest efforts in love.

Foreshadowing: The shop opens with 'the early days feel bright and manageable' and closes with Bo's journey showing 'rebuilding trust takes time.'

  • sweets shop
  • symbol
  • resilience
  • Bo
  • dreams
Q11

Why do Ah-Man and Fung's relationship struggles matter to the main story?

Ah-Man and Fung's relationship parallels Bo and Jun's story, showing that love under pressure is a recurring theme. Ah-Man's tendency to 'bounce between relationships' and Fung's struggle with 'competing loyalties and past mistakes' mirror the central question of whether love can survive deception, miscommunication, and ego. Their storyline reinforces the film's exploration of different kinds of love and loyalty.

Foreshadowing: The relationships in Bo's circle 'become a mirror for the bigger question: can love survive the pressures of deception?'

  • Ah-Man
  • Fung
  • parallel story
  • relationship struggles
  • loyalty

Movie threads

More Movies Like L for Love, L for Lies Too, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes L for Love, L for Lies Too tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies about messy love and forgiveness like L for Love, L for Lies Too

Romantic dramas where love survives and evolves amidst deception and heartbreak. If you enjoyed the complex emotional landscape of L for Love, L for Lies Too, explore more movies like it. These dramas feature intricate love triangles, themes of betrayal and deception, and ultimately, stories about personal growth and finding a complicated path to forgiveness after heartbreak.

  • betrayal
  • romantic
  • poignant
  • reflective
  • tense
  • hopeful
  • Tone: bittersweet, reflective, tense
  • Pacing: steady, character-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative typically begins with a foundational betrayal, such as infidelity, which shatters a character's world. This event propels them on a journey of self-discovery, often involving new, morally ambiguous relationships. The arc isn't about neat revenge or simple reconciliation, but about characters grappling with pain, learning difficult truths about themselves, and arriving at a mature, if bittersweet, acceptance of love's complexities.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped together because they share a core focus on the gray areas of romance. They balance the pain of betrayal with the possibility of hope, maintain a steady, character-driven pace, and deliver endings that feel earned yet realistically imperfect, resonating with a 'bittersweet' emotional tone.

Movies about personal reckoning and new beginnings like L for Love, L for Lies Too

Character-driven journeys from the ruins of a relationship to a flawed but hopeful future. Fans of L for Love, L for Lies Too will appreciate these similar movies about life after a major betrayal. Watch characters navigate the fallout of infidelity, be drawn into unexpected new dynamics, and slowly rebuild their lives on a foundation of painful but valuable lessons, leading to a realistically hopeful conclusion.

  • reckoning
  • personal growth
  • poignant
  • melancholic
  • hopeful
  • friendship
  • Tone: poignant, melancholic, hopeful
  • Pacing: steady, reflective
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative structure follows a protagonist whose life is upended by a trusted partner's deception. This crisis leads them to an unlikely mentor or new social circle (sometimes morally questionable), which serves as a crucible for change. The story focuses on the internal reckoning and external choices that lead from devastation to a state of nuanced healing, acknowledging the past while cautiously stepping forward.

Why they belong together: These movies share a specific emotional arc: a fall from grace, a period of disorientation and growth, and a conclusion that balances sadness for what was lost with hope for what might be. They are united by a steady pacing that allows for reflection, a medium emotional intensity, and a core theme of rebuilding a life after it has been broken.

Every angle

L for Love, L for Lies Too (2016) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about L for Love, L for Lies Too 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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