Year: 2013
Runtime: 140 mins
Language: Cantonese
Director: Benny Chan Muk-Sing
A narcotics team within the Hong Kong Police Department faces a life-altering operation in Thailand targeting a dangerous drug lord. Five years pass, and a new drug-related incident unexpectedly reunites the team, forcing them to confront their past and deal with escalating threats.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of The White Storm (2013), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
Ma Ho-tin [Sean Lau], So Kin-chow, and Cheung Tsz-wai are good brothers who grow up together and join the Hong Kong Narcotics Bureau after coming of age. Among them, Chow [Louis Koo] has spent years undercover inside a brutal drug trafficking ring, living with a constant pulse of anxiety that keeps him irritable and on edge. Tin and Wai, the elder siblings in the force, often urge him to rejoin the team after they close in on the most notorious drug lord, hoping to bring him back into the fold. The higher-ups decide to invest more time and resources in the pursuit for a bigger payoff, a plan that leaves Chow deeply dissatisfied and wary of the costs.
The trio heads to Bangkok with a mission tied to the Eight-faced Buddha, a powerful and feared figure at the center of the drug network, and to assist Chow in escaping to safety if necessary. Yet Chow, prioritizing safety and judgment over a risky fake drug transaction, tries to call off the deal. The other party is alerted, and the Eight-faced Buddha responds by bringing in his own forces, triggering a brutal ambush. The resulting gunfight leaves heavy casualties on both sides of the border, and Tin is forced to make an excruciating choice between saving Chow or Wai. He chooses Wai, paying a dear price that haunts him afterward.
Grief plants deep guilt in Tin, and he and Chow afterwards become the caretakers of Wai’s elderly, amnesiac mother, a duty that binds them with new responsibility even as their personal lives fray. Chow’s marriage suffers the strain, and he and his wife eventually separate after the birth of their daughter. Five years pass.
A rookie gang leader, Dune Kun [Marc Ma], murders Eight-faced Buddha’s son, reigniting the hunt and reshaping the loyalties within the underworld. During the investigation, Tin and Chow discover a shocking truth: Wai has survived and has married Mina Wei [Treechada Petcharat], Eight-faced Buddha’s daughter. This revelation brings a fragile, complicated reconciliation as they rally to rescue Chow’s kidnapped daughter. Wai then reveals that his past actions were part of a larger plan with Dune Kun to root out Eight-faced Buddha once and for all.
The final confrontation unfolds on a tense night marked by memory and betrayal. The trio and Eight-faced Buddha collide in a perilous, life-or-death battle, culminating in a brutal showdown in a basement bar. The epic clash ends with the deaths of Eight-faced Buddha, his family, and his free company, as well as Tin and Wai, sealing a dark, irreversible turn for the brothers and their friendship.
Eight-faced Buddha Lo Hoi-Pang
Mina Wei Treechada Petcharat
Dune Kun Marc Ma
Chow Louis Koo
Ma Ho-tin, Sean Lau
Wai Nick Cheung Ka-Fai
Chloe Yuan Yuan Quan
Last Updated: November 22, 2025 at 15:59
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