Plot Summary
Three Times (2020) Plot Summary Explained
- Release, runtime and language
- 2020 · 21 mins · Spanish
- Directed by
- Paco Ruiz
- Starring
- Frank Feys, Koldo Olabarri, Ione Irazabal
Mario is home alone. His parents are gone and it will take them a while to return. Enough time for their son to arrange a sex date on the Internet with a total stranger.
On this page (4)
Full plot summary · contains spoilers
What Happens in Three Times: Full Plot Summary
The whole story of Three Times (2020) 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.
The film is structured as an anthology of three distinct stories, each exploring different eras of Taiwanese history and the lingering nature of longing and desire.
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The first segment, titled Love Dream (戀愛夢), takes place in Kaohsiung during the year 1966. This was a period marked by the onset of the Cultural Revolution in mainland China, which ironically fostered a sense of relative freedom within Taiwan. The story centers on a young soldier named Chen, who is currently awaiting his official deployment to his military station. During this time, he frequents a local pool hall where he meets a young woman named May.
The two develop a quiet, tentative connection, often exchanging meaningful glances and playing pool together while attempting to keep their mutual attraction discreet. As the night draws to a close and May begins closing the hall, Chen makes a heartfelt promise to write to her before he departs for his post, a gesture that leaves May feeling deeply flattered. Three months pass, and May receives a letter from Chen expressing his hope to see her again soon. After spending a few more months working at the pool hall, May decides to leave the city and return to Chiayi, where she had previously been employed.
Later, while off duty, Chen returns to the pool hall in Kaohsiung only to find that May is gone. Determined to find her, he begins tracking her trail, eventually discovering that she is working at a different pool hall located in Huwei. The two are reunited and spend a brief, precious amount of time together. However, as they make their way to the train station so Chen can return to his military duties, they arrive too late and miss their departure. May suggests they wait for the next available bus. As they stand together at the stop, Chen reaches out to take her hand, and the two huddle close to one another beneath the shelter of a single umbrella.
***
The second segment, Freedom Dream (自由夢), is set in Dadaocheng in 1911, during the era of Japanese occupation in Taiwan. This portion of the film is presented in the style of a silent movie, with the narrative conveyed through on-screen titles, and voices are only heard during specific musical moments. The story follows a singing courtesan living in a brothel who desperately longs for her freedom. She hopes to achieve this by becoming the concubine of Mr. Chang, a frequent customer who is a traveling writer and a dedicated political freedom fighter. Because of his commitment to his cause, Mr. Chang is often away for months at a time.
When he does visit, he shares vivid stories of his travels, and she sings for him in the only audible moments of the segment. While he is clearly fond of her, Mr. Chang refuses to grant her the freedom she seeks because he fundamentally disagrees with the system of concubinage and is entirely consumed by his diplomatic efforts to fight the Japanese. The tragedy deepens when the courtesan's younger sister, Ah Mei, who is also a courtesan, becomes pregnant by a customer who lacks the funds to buy her out. In a gesture of kindness, Mr. Chang decides to use his resources to buy Ah Mei's freedom instead. After she is liberated, Ah Mei says a tearful farewell to her sister.
A month later, Mr. Chang returns to the brothel. The courtesan informs him that her Madame has requested she remain at the house until Ah Mei's vacancy is filled, and she looks at him with a hopeful, longing expression. Mr. Chang offers no response. Shortly after, a new girl is brought into the brothel; when asked her age, the child reveals she is only ten years old. After a visit from Ah Mei, the courtesan asks Mr. Chang once more if he intends to make her his concubine. He remains silent, leaving her in tears. Three months later, while listening to the young girl's singing lessons, the courtesan receives a letter from Mr. Chang containing a poem reflecting on the sorrow that might follow Taiwan's liberation. After reading his words, she quietly wipes away her tears.
***
The final segment, Youth Dream (青春夢), shifts to Taipei in 2005. The story revolves around Jing, an epileptic club singer who is in a committed lesbian relationship. However, Jing begins a clandestine affair with a photographer named Zhen after a sexual encounter in her apartment. This tension peaks during one of her performances when Zhen comes onto the stage to take close-up photographs of her, drawing other photographers to do the same. Jing's girlfriend watches this interaction from the crowd, and as Jing interacts with Zhen, the girlfriend presumably walks out of the venue in distress.
Later, at Zhen's apartment, he discovers Jing's medical badge, which contains vital instructions on how to handle an epileptic seizure. Before he can return it to her, he sees his own girlfriend on the street and attempts to embrace her, but she rejects him. Meanwhile, at a club, Jing and her girlfriend have a heated argument regarding Jing's failure to answer her phone. Jing manages to calm her with a hug, promising to wait for her to perform. Once they return home, Jing receives a text from Zhen asking to meet the next day to return the badge and the photos. While her girlfriend attempts to communicate, Jing remains emotionally distant and begins writing song lyrics inspired by her passionate experience with Zhen.
The following morning, Jing records the music for her new song and meets Zhen, asking him to take her back to his place to continue their affair. Back at the apartment, Jing's girlfriend wakes up to find her missing. Discovering that Jing left her phone behind, the girlfriend types a devastating message:
> I'm tired of waiting to be loved back and that I'll kill myself like Jing's previous girlfriend.
Upon returning home, Jing reads the message and lies down on the bed in a state of shock or despair. As the song she wrote begins to play, the scene transitions to a vision of her riding on the freeway on the back of Zhen's motorbike.
Last updated: October 03, 2026 at 14:49
Plot questions answered
Three Times Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered
The questions people ask most about Three Times (2020): 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 How are the three stories in this film connected?
The three segments are not linked by characters or plot but by theme. Each story, set in 1911, 1966, and 2005, explores the persistence of longing, missed connections, and unfulfilled desire across different eras of Taiwanese history. The anthology structure implies that these feelings of yearning are not bound to a single period but recur across generations despite vast historical change.
- anthology structure
- three stories
- thematic connection
- longing
- taiwanese history
Q2 Why does Mr. Chang refuse to free the courtesan but buy Ah Mei's freedom?
Mr. Chang is ideologically opposed to the system of concubinage itself, believing it perpetuates the very oppression he fights against politically. However, he is willing to use the system to rescue Ah Mei from an exploitative pregnancy because helping a younger sister escape immediate harm does not require him to legitimize concubinage as an institution. His refusal leaves the older courtesan trapped despite his affection for her.
- mr chang
- courtesan
- concubinage
- ah mei
- freedom
- ideology
Q3 Does Jing's girlfriend kill herself at the end of the film?
The ending is left deliberately ambiguous. After discovering Jing missing, the girlfriend types a message saying she is tired of waiting to be loved back and that she will kill herself like Jing's previous girlfriend. Jing returns home, reads the message, and collapses onto the bed in despair. The final image is surreal, Jing riding on the back of Zhen's motorbike along a freeway, so the film never confirms whether the girlfriend acts on her threat.
Foreshadowing: The girlfriend's mention of Jing's 'previous girlfriend' implies a pattern of tragedy that has surfaced before.
- jing girlfriend
- suicide
- ambiguous ending
- three times
- message
Q4 Why is the second segment presented as a silent film?
The middle story is set in 1911 during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, an era when silent cinema was the dominant form. The choice to render it as a silent film with intertitles evokes the historical period while also reflecting the voicelessness of the courtesan, whose desires are repeatedly ignored. Voices are heard only during moments when she sings for Mr. Chang, emphasizing how rarely she is truly listened to.
- silent film
- 1911
- japanese occupation
- dadaocheng
- courtesan
Q5 What does Mr. Chang's poem mean at the end of the second segment?
The poem reflects on the sorrow that may befall Taiwan even after it is liberated from its colonial rulers. It suggests that political freedom does not guarantee personal happiness, and that the end of one oppression may simply give way to another. After reading it, the courtesan quietly wipes her tears, recognizing that her own longing for freedom may similarly go unfulfilled even if Taiwan's does not.
- poem
- mr chang
- liberation
- taiwan
- sorrow
- colonial allegory
Q6 Why does May leave Kaohsiung for Chiayi after receiving Chen's letter?
After receiving Chen's letter but with no clear timeline for his return, May chooses to return to her previous place of employment rather than wait indefinitely in Kaohsiung. The decision reflects her independence and the uncertain circumstances of a soldier's deployment, which makes indefinite waiting impractical. Her departure is what forces Chen to actively track her down later.
- may
- chen
- chiayi
- kaohsiung
- letter
- soldier
Q7 What is the significance of the ten-year-old girl brought into the brothel?
The introduction of a ten-year-old replacement for Ah Mei underscores the brutal, cyclical nature of exploitation within the system of concubinage. Her presence is precisely what fuels Mr. Chang's moral refusal to legitimize the institution by taking the older courtesan as his concubine. For the courtesan herself, the girl is a painful mirror of what her own future might have looked like if she had been sold younger.
- ten-year-old
- child
- brothel
- concubinage
- exploitation
- courtesan
Q8 Why does Jing cheat on her girlfriend with Zhen?
Jing's affair appears to stem from a growing emotional distance within her relationship and a desire for something more intense and passionate. Her girlfriend's accusation about Jing's 'previous girlfriend' suggests Jing has a recurring pattern of unavailable or one-sided love. The affair with Zhen gives Jing creative inspiration, as seen in the song she writes, suggesting Zhen fulfills a part of her that her current relationship cannot.
Foreshadowing: Jing's emotional detachment while her girlfriend tries to communicate foreshadows the eventual rupture.
- jing
- zhen
- affair
- cheating
- girlfriend
- infidelity
Q9 What does the motorcycle ending symbolize?
The final image of Jing riding on the back of Zhen's motorbike along a freeway represents a fleeting escape into passion and freedom. However, the freeway imagery is also open-ended and ominous, suggesting the relationship is hurtling toward an uncertain future rather than a stable resolution. The shift from the bedroom scene of despair to this wide-open road implies Jing has chosen desire, but at a cost the film refuses to resolve.
- motorbike
- freeway
- ending
- jing
- zhen
- symbolism
Q10 What does the reference to Jing's previous girlfriend mean?
The girlfriend's message that she will 'kill herself like Jing's previous girlfriend' implies Jing has been involved in at least one prior relationship that ended in tragedy. This detail reframes Jing's current behavior as a repeating pattern of emotional withdrawal rather than a one-time mistake, and it raises the implied threat of suicide from a vague warning into a specific echo of past trauma.
- previous girlfriend
- suicide
- pattern
- jing
- trauma
Q11 Why does Zhen come onstage during Jing's performance?
Zhen's decision to photograph Jing up close during her set publicly marks his desire for her and asserts a kind of territorial claim in front of her girlfriend, who is watching from the crowd. The act provokes other photographers to follow, amplifying the moment and humiliating Jing's girlfriend. It is a deliberate breach of performance etiquette that exposes the affair's visibility.
- zhen
- jing
- performance
- stage
- photography
- girlfriend
Q12 Why do Chen and May miss the train at the end of the first segment?
Chen and May simply arrive too late for their departure, but the missed train functions as a narrative device that extends their time together beyond what the military schedule would have allowed. It creates the rare moment of physical closeness under a shared umbrella at the bus stop, which becomes the emotional climax of the segment. The missed train thus becomes the only gift their constrained circumstances can offer them.
- chen
- may
- train
- missed
- huwei
- umbrella
Q13 What is the significance of Jing's medical badge being left behind?
The badge contains instructions on how to handle an epileptic seizure, and Zhen's discovery of it reveals a hidden vulnerability in Jing that she has not shared openly. The fact that it is left at Zhen's apartment rather than carried with her signals her emotional drift toward him and away from her girlfriend. The badge also becomes the practical pretext for their next meeting, which leads to the affair's continuation.
- medical badge
- epilepsy
- jing
- zhen
- seizure instructions
Q14 What does the umbrella scene at the bus stop mean?
The image of Chen and May huddled close together under a single umbrella is the only moment of direct physical contact in the first segment and serves as its emotional climax. After weeks of exchanging glances and missing each other, the umbrella shelter becomes a private space where their restrained longing is finally allowed expression. It encapsulates the segment's larger theme: love that exists only in stolen fragments.
- umbrella
- chen
- may
- bus stop
- intimacy
- love dream
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Three Times (2020) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters
Everything about Three Times 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.
- Three Times Timeline Every key event in chronological order, ideal for flashbacks and time jumps.
- Three Times Characters & Themes Who is who, where it takes place and what the movie really means.
- Three Times Spoiler-Free Summary What it is about and whether it is worth watching, without spoilers.
- Three Times on What's After the Movie Cast and crew, box office, post-credit scenes and more.
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