Night Inn is based on the Chinese theatrical adaptation of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths by playwright Ke Ling. The play and the film were both banned in China during the Cultural Revolution but were popular in the post-Mao period.

Rene Liu successfully delivers the complex role of Mi, who chooses to remain single rather than risking the slightest chance of being dumped. She loves her friend Nan more than anyone, yet she asks him to be her best friend instead of boyfriend. For ten years, he wishes her a happy birthday no matter how far they are geographically apart or who they are with. However, this year his greeting arrives 42 hours late...