Delicately flirting with eroticism, the animated film The Banquet of the Concubine, by young Chinese director Hefang Wei, recounts one of the most famous love stories of Imperial China. In this tale of bitter jealousy, nothing can sweeten the heart of an abandoned mistress, not even the luscious lychee.

Jeweler Xiong Yukun lives with his daughter after a divorce. His long-time partner, Chao Yu, who has been living in Paris for years, returns to Wuhan upon the death of his mother. Both men are deeply entrenched in their own lives when the appearance of a mysterious client, Wu Ge, disrupts the unspoken understanding between them.