| Director | Wong Kar-wai |
|---|---|
| Budget | $12 million |
| Box office | $19.5 million |
There are four main story arcs, listed in approximate order below. In typical Wong fashion, they are presented in non-chronological order. Knowledge of Days of Being Wild and In the Mood for Love is assumed, but not necessary to understand 2046.
Returning to Hong Kong after years in Singapore, Chow has become a suave ladies' man to cover up his pain from losing Su. Chow meets Lulu, taking her home but accidentally keeps her room key. Upon returning the key, Chow later learns that Lulu was stabbed the night before by a jealous boyfriend.
The landlord's daughter Jing-wen is seeing a Japanese man her father strongly disapproves of. Eventually, Jing-wen breaks up with him. The next tenant is Jing-wen's younger sister Jie-wen who attempts and fails to seduce Chow. Soon after, Chow runs into financial difficulties so he starts writing sci-fi stories where people from his life appear from time to time. Scenes from the stories are interwoven with the plot arcs.
Bai Ling is a nightclub ballroom dancer seeking a long-term relationship. Bai runs into Chow after her boyfriend leaves her before a planned trip to Singapore and they become friends. The relationship quickly turns sexual. Chow wants to keep the relationship purely physical, continuing to see other women; when Bai realizes she has feelings for Chow and asks for exclusivity, Chow refuses and they break up. Bai then returns to prostitution.
After Bai leaves, Jing-wen is released from institutional care and still depressed over her previous relationship. Chow develops feelings for Jing-wen and attempts a relationship but nothing develops as she is still in love with her previous lover.
Jing-wen gets engaged. Depressed over the loss of Jing-wen, Chow runs into Bai Ling and believes she is likely to remain content with her misery. He resolves to get over Su.
Some time later, Bai calls Chow and they go out to dinner. She informs Chow of her plans to leave for Singapore, asking for a reference.
Chow met Su (different from Su Li-Zhen of the previous movie) after arriving in Singapore, financially spent from gambling. Su agrees to help him win money so he can return to Hong Kong and they become lovers. When he asks Su to return to Hong Kong with him, Su challenges him to a final draw that Chow loses, and so she refuses to go with him and also refuses to tell him why.
When Chow returns to Singapore to visit her a second time, he does not find her and hears rumors that Su either returned to Cambodia or was killed.
The night before Bai leaves for Singapore, Chow dines with her again. She insists on paying for dinner and hands him a stack of cash, each $10 bill representing a night they spent together. After dinner, Chow walks her back to her apartment and Bai begs him to spend the night. He cannot, and leaves by taxi.