Film

The Story of the Stone

Name: The Story of the Stone
Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance
Released: 2018
Cast: Sky Li, Aric Chen, J.R. Chien, Etsen Chen, Stephen Rong

Coming-of-age

A Taiwanese coming-of-age drama set in Taipei's nocturnal underbelly, following a young gay man through nightlife's intoxicating highs and devastating lows. Intimate and unflinching, it captures the texture of desire, friendship, and survival with genuine warmth alongside hard truths. For anyone seeking cinema that doesn't look away from queer life's complexity.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a coming-of-age story where Taipei's nightlife works almost as a character, and you're happy to sit with a romantic ache rather than be rescued from it.

Skip it if you need plot-driven momentum, since this drifts through encounters and moods more than it builds toward a clear dramatic arc, and the crime thread can feel like an afterthought.

What it asks of you: At 105 minutes it runs unhurried and moody, with long nightlife stretches that want your patience and a willingness to read feeling from faces more than in dialogue.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Moonlight2016

A tender, lyrical portrait of a Black queer man's life across three chapters. Like The Story of the Stone, it finds beauty in vulnerability and refuses easy answers about identity, desire, and belonging.

But Moves at a contemplative pace. Some find its quietness remote rather than intimate, and there's minimal plot in the traditional sense.

Lan Yu2001

A Chinese-language film about an illicit romance between two men navigating societal pressure and class difference. Shares The Story of the Stone's cultural specificity and its refusal to sentimentalise queer connection.

But Harder to find, with some distribution limitations. The ending may feel deliberately unsatisfying to viewers seeking resolution.

Heartstopper2022

A coming-of-age romance about young queer men in contemporary Britain, warm and genuine without sugar-coating complexity. Captures the same tender, lived-in quality as The Story of the Stone, just with more lightness.

But Much sunnier in tone. If you want unrelenting darkness or cynicism, this will feel too optimistic by half.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Story of the Stone

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Chungking Express1994

Both are urban nocturne films that prioritise mood and visual language over linear storytelling; both find their emotional truth in the texture of nightlife rather than plot mechanics.

Wong Kar-wai's kaleidoscopic love letter to urban nightlife, using fragmented narrative and visual texture to capture loneliness and connection in a metropolis. Like The Story of the Stone, it finds the poetic inside the nocturnal and the mundane—but approaches the same material through entirely different sensibilities.

But Wildly stylised and sometimes precious. The narrative is deliberately scattered, which some read as pretentious rather than experimental.

The Half of It2020

A witty, tender exploration of identity and desire set in a small town, with genuine stakes and unexpected emotional depth. Shares The Story of the Stone's intelligence about how desire shapes us.

But Netflix production polish may feel too polished if you prefer rawer textures. The humour tone-shifts from the darker material.

Happy Together1997

Wong Kar-wai's luminous, melancholic film about a queer relationship in Buenos Aires. Visually intoxicating and emotionally wrung-out, it shares The Story of the Stone's interest in nightlife, distance, and connection.

But Visually dense and sometimes oblique. If you need clarity of plot and character motive, the style can obscure rather than reveal.

Beach Rats2017

An American indie about a young man's suppressed queerness and the nightlife he uses to escape it. Shares The Story of the Stone's unflinching look at desire, secrecy, and the spaces queer men create for themselves.

But Bleak and often difficult. The protagonist makes destructive choices without redemption arcs, which frustrates viewers seeking catharsis.

Courage Under Fire1996

Deepa Mehta's groundbreaking Indian film about two women in a loveless marriage who fall in love with each other. Cross-culturally specific but emotionally universal, it shares The Story of the Stone's refusal to apologise for queer desire.

But Made in 1996, so visual style is dated. It's a film of ideas as much as emotion, which some find didactic.

Prayers for the Stolen2021

A Mexican drama about young girls in a cartel-controlled town, exploring survival, friendship, and resilience. While different in surface, shares The Story of the Stone's commitment to depicting young people's inner lives in dangerous circumstances.

But Heavy subject matter with violence and threat. Not a film for anyone needing escapism or hope.

A Brighter Summer Day1991

Both are Taiwanese narratives about young men navigating danger, brotherhood, and identity in a specific cultural moment; both refuse the sentimentality that typically surrounds coming-of-age stories.

Edward Yang's four-hour Taiwanese masterpiece about youth, violence, and belonging in 1960s Taipei. A coming-of-age epic that shares The Story of the Stone's cultural specificity and unflinching view of how young people actually live and hurt each other.

But Four hours long. Different era, different setting, different tone—this is a demanding, glacial film that requires patience and surrender.