The Mirror (1999) Plot Summary Explained

The mirror was cursed after a courtesan was murdered in a 16th-century Chinese brothel. Her blood spilled onto the mirror on the dressing table, anchoring it as a central plot device that haunts all subsequent owners. This violent death established a malevolent fate tied to the object.

• courtesan
• murder
• curse
• blood
• antique mirror

After winning the controversial courtroom case, James was involved in a car accident that caused severe facial injuries. During reconstructive surgery, his face was changed to exactly resemble the rape victim's deceased boyfriend, linking his appearance to the moral corruption he accepted when taking the case.

• james
• car accident
• facial reconstruction
• new face
• resemblance

Yu was arrested because she was the primary suspect when Ming's grandmother went missing and was later found dead with her body dismembered. However, Yu was eventually cleared of the crime after Judy was revealed to be the true perpetrator.

• yu
• arrest
• murder
• grandmother
• cleared

Judy's true nature was that of a dangerous, manipulative person. When Ming confronted her about killing the grandmother to inherit the fortune, she revealed her colors and attempted to kill Ming. However, she accidentally impaled herself on a pair of scissors fixed to the dressing table during the confrontation.

• judy
• true colors
• kill
• grandmother
• imperial inheritance

James accepted the case because he was driven by greed. A mysterious woman offered him a million dollars to defend her son, who was accused of rape and murder. Despite the morally reprehensible nature of the case, James took it and won, which began the mirror's influence of moral corruption on him.

• james
• greed
• million dollars
• rape
• murder
• defense case

The antique dressing table with its cursed mirror passes through different owners across centuries, connecting the storylines. It moves from 16th-century China to 1922 Shanghai, then to 1988 Singapore, and finally to 1999 Hong Kong. Each owner becomes entangled in its dark legacy, with supernatural occurrences reflecting their moral transgressions.

• mirror
• dressing table
• cursed
• passes through
• owners

Ming's grandmother went missing on the same night Judy's puppy was killed. She was later found dead with her body dismembered. The grandmother's death was part of the curse's progression, though the immediate cause was Judy's actions as she tried to secure the inheritance.

• grandmother
• missing
• dead
• dismembered
• judy

When Mary received the antique dressing table in 1922 Shanghai, she began receiving eerie phone calls that reminded her of dark secrets from her past. These calls hinted that hidden sins, particularly her affair with a married professor and her plot to silence him, would not stay buried.

• mary
• phone calls
• affair
• professor
• secrets

James had a one-night stand with Lora in Singapore in 1988. Lora's burly Teochew-speaking brother Roman then forced James to marry her, tying him to the haunted dressing table that would later be brought into their household.

• james
• lora
• forced marriage
• one night stand
• brother roman

In Taiwan in 2000, a woman approached the antique dressing table and saw her eyeballs fall out in the mirror. This horrifying image reinforced the mirror's cursed grip on the living, demonstrating that the curse continued to affect new owners even after the main events in Hong Kong.

• taiwan
• eyeballs
• mirror
• vision
• horror

The two servants who confronted Mary were actually the professor's daughters seeking revenge for their father. They pursued justice for their father after Mary plotted to silence him so she could take over his mansion. This confrontation marked a turning point in the mirror's connection to Mary's fate.

• professor daughters
• servants
• revenge
• mary
• confrontation