Us and Them 2018

Drama

Thriller

Crime

Rank

#18,842

Box Office

$209M

Runtime

83 min

Language

Chinese

Directed by

Joseph Martin

Made by

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Us and Them Plot Summary

Read the complete plot summary and ending explained for Us and Them (2018). From turning points to emotional moments, uncover what really happened and why it matters.

The film unfolds across two interwoven timelines, with a quiet patience that lets memory and longing breathe. The past is bathed in color, a bright, tactile world where two strangers form a fragile bond, while the present is rendered in stark black and white, as if memory itself has drained the color from what remains.

During the Chunyun travel season, Lin Jianqing and Fang Xiaoxiao meet on a long train ride home. They quickly sense a shared hunger for success in Beijing, where both chase different paths yet tread similar pressures. Jianqing dreams of becoming a game-maker, wrestling with money worries and a constant lack of time. Xiaoxiao, living with her boyfriend but strained by his mother’s meddling, ends up moving into Jianqing’s cramped room in a small apartment complex. Together they improvise a life, earning money by selling computer software and—risks and all—Japanese porn, carving out a precarious but hopeful space for themselves.

In the present, Jianqing happens to encounter Xiaoxiao again on a Chunyun flight. A delayed journey forces them to share a night in the same room, and they drift into memories of a relationship that once felt like a turning point. The scene shifts back to the past, where Chinese New Year celebrations mark the beginning of love between Jianqing and Xiaoxiao. Their early days are buoyant—both land new jobs and the world seems open to them.

But the next New Year arrives with a different bill to pay. Jianqing spends lavishly trying to impress friends and family, while two acquaintances return home and spend time with Jianqing’s father. A blunt truth is voiced: there is no need to pretend to be rich if you aren’t. The couple’s stability begins to crack when they are evicted from their complex, and a volatile moment at work sees Jianqing pick a fight with a caller, leaving him battered. He becomes angry and distant, and the relationship strains under growing friction. Xiaoxiao’s patience wears thin, and she ends the romance while Jianqing is absorbed in a late-night gaming session.

When Xiaoxiao vanishes, Jianqing follows her to a subway, where they stand in silence as the doors close and the train departs. This moment becomes a turning point; he channels his energy into finishing his game, which becomes a hit and lands him a worthwhile job. Xiaoxiao sees him on television, listening as he explains how the game’s story was inspired by their past and connected to her.

The years continue to turn, and during another Chunyun season Jianqing asks Xiaoxiao to join him back home. His father reveals he is gradually going blind, and when Jianqing insists they move to Beijing to care for him, the tension peaks. The elder insists on staying, and Jianqing, moved and frustrated, leaves—Xiaoxiao follows. On the street, Jianqing, now successful, asks for a second chance, but Xiaoxiao speaks with hard honesty: she didn’t stay with him for money or a house, but because she genuinely liked him. She tells him he never truly understood her, and then she walks away.

Back in the present, a clearer truth emerges: Xiaoxiao is single, while Jianqing is married with a child. The two confront the possibility that the love they shared might have been something real, or perhaps a destined meeting that was never meant to become a lifelong arrangement. Xiaoxiao admits she loved him, and they lament what might have been, while acknowledging the paths that led them apart.

Jianqing drives Xiaoxiao home, and they embrace before saying a bittersweet goodbye. He tells her that true love will come again for her. En route home with his wife, Jianqing’s father briefly mistakes his daughter-in-law for Xiaoxiao, a moment that underscores the ache of lifelong longing. The father, who had been blind, realizes the mistake and writes one final letter to Xiaoxiao, confessing that he had hoped she would end up with his son—yet life unfolded differently.

After the father’s death, Jianqing visits the restaurant where memories linger like old flavors. In the final turn, Xiaoxiao re-enters their shared world by playing through Jianqing’s game, discovering hidden messages that speak to her. The color of the present returns as the two characters reconcile with their past, suggesting that the past, however altered, remains a living part of who they are today.

Us and Them Timeline

Follow the complete movie timeline of Us and Them (2018) with every major event in chronological order. Great for understanding complex plots and story progression.

Train encounter during Chunyun

Two strangers, Lin Jianqing and Fang Xiaoxiao, meet on a long train ride home during the Chunyun travel season. They quickly discover they both live in Beijing and share similar dreams of success. The chance meeting plants the seed for a complicated, evolving relationship.

Past Train, during Chunyun

Beijing life and shared room

After meeting, they move into Xiaoxiao's tiny room in a Beijing complex and start making money selling computer software and Japanese porn. The cramped space and financial pressures test their budding relationship. Their shared hustles bind them as they chase a chance at success in the city.

Past Beijing, in a small rented room

Past: first New Year together

During the first Chinese New Year after they become a couple, they get drunk together and begin a romantic relationship. Both land new jobs, signaling a hopeful start despite looming pressures. Their early happiness hints at a bright future that will be tested by time.

Past Beijing

The next New Year's party

At the next New Year’s party, Jianqing spends lavishly to impress friends back home, blurring the line between success and insecurity. The display of wealth foreshadows later financial strain and tension between them. Xiaoxiao starts feeling the widening distance.

Past Beijing, at a friends' party

Eviction from the complex

A manager forces the couple out of their cramped living space, stripping away their sense of stability. The eviction intensifies their quarrels and pushes their relationship toward a breaking point. They must confront life without a shared home.

Past Beijing complex

Jianqing fights at work

While at work he provokes a heated exchange with a caller and ends up beaten, damaging his pride and prospects. The incident fuels his anger and strains his relationship with Xiaoxiao even further. Ambition collides with vulnerability as their bond frays.

Past Workplace

Breakup and subway moment

The couple's relationship collapses as Jianqing grows distant and angry, culminating in Xiaoxiao breaking up with him during a gaming session. When he discovers she is gone, he races to find her on a subway, and they stand in silence as the train departs. The moment leaves both aching for what might have been.

Past Subway

Game success and news

After the breakup, Jianqing dedicates himself to his work and finishes his game, which becomes a big hit and lands him a job. Xiaoxiao later sees him on the news, where he explains the game's inspiration and its ties to their past. The triumph marks a new chapter that sets them on divergent paths.

Past Office/Home

Present-day reunion on a flight

In the present, during a Chunyun flight, Jianqing unexpectedly encounters Xiaoxiao again. They end up sharing a hotel room for the night due to a delay and reminisce about their relationship. The encounter forces them to confront whether the young love they shared truly mattered.

Present Flight, then hotel room

Return to the past: hometown visit

The story slips back to their past as they travel to Jianqing's hometown for a New Year visit. Jianqing's father reveals that he is slowly going blind, complicating the idea of Xiaoxiao moving with them or staying. The visit exposes the pull between family duty and personal ambition.

Past Hometown

Family conflict over moving to Beijing

Jianqing's father refuses to move to Beijing, and Jianqing's tension erupts at the family restaurant as he berates its limits. The clash deepens the rift between his dreams and his heritage. Xiaoxiao's presence is tested as the couple navigates family obligations.

Past Family restaurant

Second chance plea and breakup

On the street, Jianqing asks Xiaoxiao to give him a second chance now that he's successful. She reveals that she did not stay with him for money or a house, but because she genuinely liked him, then she leaves. The moment marks the final fracture of their romance in the past timeline.

Past Street

Present: status reveals and reflection

Back in the present, it is revealed that Xiaoxiao remains single while Jianqing is married with a child. They admit that their young love might have been real and that fate might have had a flawed plan for them. They part with a bittersweet, accepting silence.

Present Present

Father's letter and reminiscence

After Jianqing's father dies, he visits the restaurant to reminisce and process the loss. Earlier, the father had written a final letter to Xiaoxiao, expressing the wish that she would have ended up with his son. The letter reveals the depth of his longing and the fragility of destiny.

Past/Present Restaurant

Color returns as the past is reconciled

The film returns to color as Xiaoxiao revisits Jianqing's game and discovers hidden messages. The past is reconciled in the present, suggesting memory can redeem or redefine what happened. Color blooms again as they accept their separate journeys and move forward.

Present Present

Us and Them Characters

Explore all characters from Us and Them (2018). Get detailed profiles with their roles, arcs, and key relationships explained.

Lin Jianqing

A Beijing-based game designer who pursues success and innovation while contending with financial pressures and a volatile temperament. His relationship with Xiaoxiao deepens in the past but frays as ambition and pride push him toward appearances. In the present, memory and reconciliation confront the consequences of earlier choices.

💼 Ambitious 🧠 Creative 💔 Complex

Fang Xiaoxiao

A woman who enters Jianqing’s life and later leaves due to personal and family tensions. She values genuine connection over wealth and remains emotionally connected to his story, even as their paths diverge. In the present, she contemplates what they shared and what truly matters.

💃 Independent 🧭 Honest 💔 Reserved

Lin Jianqing's Father

A restaurant owner whose health declines, offering guidance and tough love. His growing blindness and eventual death weigh heavily on the couple and reveal a longing for care and belonging. His final letter and lingering memories act as catalysts for introspection.

🧓 Wise 🙏 Caring 🕊️ Family-first

Us and Them Settings

Learn where and when Us and Them (2018) takes place. Explore the film’s settings, era, and how they shape the narrative.

Time period

21st century

The narrative alternates between the past and the present, using color to depict the former and black-and-white for the latter. The past chronicles the couple’s early, hopeful years during New Year celebrations, while the present follows how memory and choices echo through their lives. The timeframe captures contemporary urban China and the evolving dynamics of love, career, and family.

Location

Beijing, China

Beijing, China serves as the film's core setting, a sprawling megacity where ambition collides with everyday struggle. The story unfolds on crowded trains during the Chunyun travel season, in a tiny room within a Beijing complex, and through the city’s vibrant restaurant scene. The fast pace of urban life and the tech-driven culture shape the characters' choices and opportunities.

🏙️ Urban 🚆 Transit 🗺️ City life

Us and Them Themes

Discover the main themes in Us and Them (2018). Analyze the deeper meanings, emotional layers, and social commentary behind the film.

💖

Love & Fate

A chance meeting on a train ignites a bond that time and circumstance strain. The film asks whether love is destiny or a series of deliberate choices shaped by growing apart and reuniting.

⏳

Time & Memory

Two timelines—colorful past and monochrome present—show how memories influence present decisions. Time reveals how wealth, status, and maturity alter relationships, yet memories keep the connection alive.

🪪

Identity

The story tests authenticity against social expectations—career success, family duty, and appearances. The father’s illness and the couple’s divergent paths probe what it means to stay true to oneself and to each other.

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Us and Them Spoiler-Free Summary

Discover the spoiler-free summary of Us and Them (2018). Get a concise overview without any spoilers.

In the bustle of China’s massive Chunyun travel season, a long train ride becomes a quiet haven where strangers can briefly escape the relentless tide of ambition and expectation. The cramped carriage, humming with the murmurs of countless passengers heading home, sets a tone that is both intimate and fleeting, inviting those aboard to share fleeting moments of solace amid the endless rhythmic clatter of wheels on rails.

Lin Jianqing is a dream‑driven aspiring game developer, perpetually juggling financial worries and the pressure to succeed in the sprawling metropolis of Beijing. Across the aisle, Fang Xiaoxiao carries the weight of a strained relationship and family obligations, yet she clings to a fierce desire for independence. Their parallel longings draw them together, and what begins as a chance conversation quickly evolves into a fragile partnership, as they carve out a modest, shared space in a modest apartment complex. Their days are stitched together by modest hustles—selling software and taking unconventional shortcuts—to stay afloat, while their nights are lit by the tentative comfort of each other’s presence.

Years later, a delayed flight forces them into the same confined cabin once more, rekindling the memory of that first encounter. The present feels muted, rendered in stark black and white, as if the colors of their past have faded into melancholy nostalgia. Yet beneath the surface, a tension simmers: unspoken agendas and hidden motives linger like shadows, hinting that the bond they forged may be tested by forces neither of them fully understands.

The film moves between vivid, tactile recollections of youthful optimism and a more subdued, reflective present, using visual contrast to echo the characters’ inner worlds. Its tone is bittersweet, balancing wistful romance with a subtle, suspenseful undercurrent. As Jianqing and Xiaoxiao navigate the spaces between memory and desire, the story invites viewers to wonder how far a connection forged in transit can travel when the future is uncertain and the past refuses to stay silent.

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