Sworn Brothers (1987) Full Movie Summary & Plot Explained

Lam Ting-yat, Andy Lau, grows up after his father’s death under the watchful care of the police officer Uncle Pau, Bill Tung. He forms a close bond with Ting’s friend Ngan Kwok, though Kwok eventually returns to Hong Kong as a police inspector, a contrast to Ting’s life as a triad member under Yeung Tung-hoi. Despite standing on opposite sides of the law, the two brothers-by-choices share a stubborn loyalty that threads through every decision they make.

When Kwok comes home, a family dinner sets the tone for the fragile balance between duty and affection. After a playful alley contest about who can urinate the longest, the trio encounters a corrupt officer, Shek, nicknamed Portuguese, who harasses a call girl. Ting intervenes, while Kwok assists, and together they cuff Shek on a cart and push him away. The moment foreshadows the collision of their loyalties as the story deepens.

The following day, Kwok is assigned to investigate Yeung’s gang, with Shek shadowing and assisting him. A folder in the case file also catches Kwok’s eye—a file about Ting—hinting at a more complicated personal history. On a separate note, Ting crosses paths with a singer named Peggy, who asks to use his phone and offers to pay. Although she has no money at the moment, her debt to Ting becomes a small but telling symbol of the tangled give-and-take between them.

Ting and Kwok find solace and devotion in a temple visit where Pau prays for Ting’s safety and for Kwok’s promotion, and for Pau’s own health. Kwok probes Ting about Yeung’s drug trafficking—Ting truthfully says he doesn’t know the details, and Kwok clarifies he isn’t seeking tips; he wants Ting to steer clear or face consequences. Ting reveals plans to emigrate to America and even jokes about learning English; he ends the moment by kneeling before his father’s grave, a quiet vow of protection and resolve.

Ting returns to his life with Yeung, offering to quit the triads to pursue life abroad. Yeung signals that he’ll help with immigration procedures, while Ting quietly ensures Pau receives surgery—paying HK$100,000 through a private hospital and asking the doctor to keep Ting’s involvement secret from Pau. Later, Ting encounters Peggy again—she returns the favor for the parking meter and Ting promises a ride to her outdoor concert, though she declines and prefers the train. Ting tracks her to the train, and a concert mishap leaves Peggy devastated; Ting consoles her and invites her to dinner and a stay at his home.

On Yeung’s estate, Ting is pressed to settle a feud with rival Fung. Ting refuses to compromise his principles, even when others brand him a defector. He agrees to help Yeung and brings along his underlings Ga Lo Chin Ka-Lok and Chan Kwo, but the larger plan turns out to be a setup intended to force Ting into action. When they reach Fung’s place, Fung’s men draw their weapons, and a brutal exchange ensues. A desperate Ka-lok tries to intervene, encounters his mother in the streets, and returns with more force, but Fung’s men puncture his defenses. Ting fights back, stabs a henchman with a dart, and forwards the battle to Fung himself, who leaps to the next floor and escapes. Ting pursues, leaping floor-to-floor until he corners Fung and shoots him to death.

Peggy arrives at Ting’s home wounded by the night’s events; she confesses the depth of her feelings and tears stream as she heals Ting’s injuries. The two grow closer as Ting’s relationship with Kwok is strained by the mounting violence and the perception of Ting’s betrayal of the law. In the police station, Sergent Shek and Commander Chan Chung-hon confront the evidence that Ting killed Fung, and Ting becomes a fugitive again as Peggy and Ting flee together.

Kwok faces demotion after Shek’s report about letting Ting slip away. Shek then tries a separate confrontation with Yeung in a private restaurant, but without a warrant Kwok is turned away. Ting, meanwhile, is offered a fortune by Yeung to enter Brazil illegally; he insists the money be shared with Ka-lok and Chan Kwo’s families, but Ting’s heart remains torn between loyalty and a longing for a new life with Peggy.

Peggy presses Ting to take her with him to Brazil, insisting they start anew, even as Ting worries about being a wanted man. Ting visits Uncle Pau, who tries to shelter him and urges him to rely on himself; Ting leaves money for Pau but Pau’s health wavers, foreshadowing his coming heart attack as he helps Ting escape danger. Ting tries to take Pau to the hospital, but Pau’s condition worsens, forcing Ting to confront the human cost of his choices.

The couple’s escape plan hinges on Kwok’s mercy. Kwok agrees to help, and Peggy’s insistence ultimately sways Ting to hand over his gun and walk away with her. On the ship that should take them to a new life, Ting and Peggy speak about the uncertain road ahead; Peggy jokes about Brazilian women while Ting jokes about Peggy’s place in his life, the bond between them anchored by a single, fragile hope. Then Fat Ko Wai opens fire, Ting is shot in the back, and Peggy falls as the ship explodes, killing Peggy and several of Yeung’s henchmen. Yeung watches from the shore with his lawyer, the mastermind remaining at large and dangerous.

Back on land, Ting’s fate takes a grim turn as Yeung plans to silence him through legal and extralegal means. Kwok visits Ting in hospital with a pot of soup and a chance to turn Witness, but Ting fears decades in prison and the loss of any chance to reclaim his life. He weighs the option of testifying against Yeung, hoping to regain his brother’s trust and restore their future—but the path remains perilous and fraught with pain.

In prison, Ting endures a brutal period of torture as Kwok fights to safeguard him, and Pau’s death from a heart attack deepens the emotional toll on both brothers. Ting awakens to a world where his past keeps catching up with him, and he finally escapes with a hostage-taking attempt to reach Yeung at a Buddhist temple opening funded by Yeung. There, Ting aims to shoot Yeung, but Lai-chu, Yeung’s daughter, blocks him; Yeung’s assault on his own daughter further fan the flames of a family calamity.

Ting and Yeung are eventually brought to court on charges of drug trafficking and murder, with Yeung released on bail while Ting faces capital punishment. In the courtroom, Ting’s lawyers argue that Yeung’s influence and wealth are a major obstacle to a fair trial, while Ting’s own difficult upbringing and stress under Yeung’s control are presented as mitigating factors. The jury sides with Ting on some counts and Yeung on others, but the verdict leaves Ting to face a severe sentence. In a final turn of fate, Ting appears to receive a chance to enact his own justice when Kwok appears and, in a tense moment, seems to offer an opportunity for Ting to pull the trigger on Yeung and end him for good; the film closes on a moment of ambiguity as Ting and Kwok raise their hands in a gesture that could mark triumph or a last act of defiance.

Note: Names in brackets indicate linked actors for the first-time mentions of characters where applicable: