The Witness 2016

Lu Xiaoxing starts as a rookie cop who abandons her post to search for her brother, an aspiring singer, hoping to bring him back home after his relentless rebellion. In the heat of a confrontation inside a car, Xiaoxing loses control and crashes into a truck, killing her brother and leaving her blind. The accident reshapes her future, but she carries the memory of that night as she learns to navigate the world without sight.

Three years pass, and Xiaoxing moves through life as a blind woman who still wears the discipline of a police officer. A wave of female disappearances sweeps through the city, and she struggles to persuade her former police academy senior to grant her another chance at being part of the force. The authorities post a hefty reward for any eyewitnesses, which draws the attention of a reckless, music-loving teenager named Linchong. Both Xiaoxing and Captain Lu are initially skeptical of Linchong’s story, chalking it up to a hopeful fantasy from a young man chasing meaning in a dangerous situation.

One night, after Linchong rides home on rollerblades while Xiaoxing and Captain Lu promise to be late, he is tailed by Tang Zhen on a motorcycle. They narrowly escape, but Tang Zhen’s car ultimately strikes Linchong, who ends up in the hospital with a skull and brain injury that could have been far worse. A few days later, Linchong spots a man tailing Xiaoxing as she boards a bus. Alarmed, he calls her and asks her to turn on a video camera so he can guide her to safety. The pursuer gives chase, and Xiaoxing manages to elude him, but her loyal guide dog Cong-Cong is killed during the confrontation.

With the public’s attention toward the missing women intensifying, the investigation shifts toward a dating app called “Let’s Meet,” which all the victims had used to arrange dates. Linchong notices a chilling pattern: the male usernames correspond to lyrics from the same song, and he predicts the next line will appear as the next username. This clue leads them to Tang Zhen, a plastic surgeon who begins kidnapping women through the dating app after a traumatic incident that involved the death of his own sister while she pursued online dating. His chilling obsession appears to be an attempt to remake other women in the image of his late sister.

Xiaoxing guides Linchong to her old home and reveals a personal truth that binds them even tighter: she is the older sister of the singer Linchong admires, the brother Xiaoxing once tried to protect in that fateful night years ago. The revelation reframes their shared peril, deepening the emotional stakes as they realize the danger Tang Zhen poses—not only to Xiaoxing, but to Linchong as well.

After a confrontation with the police, Tang Zhen traces Xiaoxing to her home and reveals a grim, fanatical mindset: he offers to kill them both, driven by a sense of kinship born from shared loss. Linchong arrives just in time to subdue Tang Zhen, and Xiaoxing, desperate to escape, sets the room ablaze. Tang Zhen, in a furious pursuit, heads outside, where Linchong confronts him with a golf club. They clash near a pool, and as Xiaoxing lies momentarily drained on the ground, Linchong calls for her to rise again. The memory of her brother’s death returns, but Xiaoxing finds renewed resolve. She grabs a ukulele as a weapon of last resort, uses the instrument to provoke Tang Zhen, and, with a decisive swing, incapacitates him just as the police arrive to take control of the scene.

In the aftermath, a year passes, and Xiaoxing watches Linchong perform her brother’s song on a stage, a poignant reminder of the sister’s memory and the road they traveled together. The story closes on a note of quiet resilience, showing how the two survivors have found purpose and connection through shared history, danger, and the healing power of music.

This tale unfolds with a steady, grounded tone, carefully balancing suspense and emotion through the lens of a blind protagonist who leverages wit, teamwork, and a deepened sense of intuition to outmaneuver a chilling predator. The interplay between Linchong’s hopeful energy and Xiaoxing’s disciplined resolve creates a dynamic partnership that drives the investigation forward, even when the odds feel stacked against them. The narrative never shies away from the consequences of violence and loss, yet it consistently returns to themes of memory, family, and the possibility of renewal in the face of darkness.