Hong Kong, 1960. A sweltering hot summer. Yuddy (Leslie Cheung), an amoral disillusioned and cruel young man is kept in luxury by his foster mother, a retired courtesan, who gives him everything but the one thing he needs to know - the identity of his natural mother.
A self-obsessed man, desperately seeking his true identity, Yuddy plays carelessly with his lovers, a lonely submissive bargirl (Maggie Cheung) and a beautiful club hostess/dancer (Carina Lau) and his friends, before leaving them all for the Philippines in search of the truth that has been denied, and may ultimately destroy him.