Love In Taipei Plot Summary
Love In Taipei is a coming-of-age romantic comedy in your usual Hollywood style, directed by Arvin Chen, based on Abigail Hing Wen’s 2020 book series Loveboat, Taipei. Ever Wong (Ashley Liao) is a 21-year-old pre-med student who actually wants to be a dancer. She is sent to a summer school in Taiwan by her parents so that she can learn more about her culture.
However, her experience is a tad bit different from what her parents could have imagined as she becomes roommates with Sophie (Chelsea Zhang) who loves to party and falls for two boys, Rick (Ross Butler) and Xavier (Nico Hiraga) who are quite different from each other.
Who makes the drawings of Ever?
Having had an awkward introduction with Rick who is Sophie’s cousin, Ever quietly hopes to complete her to-do list and stay out of trouble. At first, she stays to herself, only venturing out on day #1 to dance on the roof where she meets Xavier. After she finally decides to join Sophie and the rest, she has moments with both Rick and Xavier which ends with someone drawing a photo of her and leaving in her room.
It happens a couple of times with Ever and Sophie wondering who it can be. After the disastrous Woo party, Xavier draws on Ever’s hand and reveals he is an artist. That is when she realises that it is Xavier who drew those drawings of her.
Does Ever get into the dance company?
While Ever preps to follow in her father’s footsteps as a doctor, she is also secretly busy trying to get into a dance company. On her first night in Huwei, she tries to dance on the roof but realises there is no privacy as any student can pop by.
With seven weeks to the audition deadline, Auntie Shu comes to her rescue and offers her art studio space for Ever to practice and record. Everything goes smoothly but unfortunately, Ever is rejected and told to try again next year.
Why is it called Loveboat?
While the summer school boasts of cultural classes like calligraphy, Mandarin lessons and fan dance classes, the students mostly attend to party and hook up with each other. This reputation has everyone calling the summer school Loveboat.
When asked who came up with the name Xavier jokes that it may have something to do with two students years ago who were stuck in a storm and spent the night on a boat, where love blossomed. However, he reiterates that he is just joking and has no clue.
Why do Rick and Ever break up?
On day #2 of summer school, Ever decides to join the students sneaking out of the dorms. When she asks to be dropped off alone (to meet Aunti Shu), Rick is worried and follows her. After she leaves Shu’s art studio, she runs into Rick and they have a fun outing at the night market. He asks her out and they start dating.
One day, he tells her that his uppity aunt is hosting a party which will be unbearable as his family has never recovered since he broke up with his perfect girlfriend Jenna. He invites Ever and she agrees. However, it goes wrong almost immediately as Rick’s aunt looks down on Ever and in fact, invites Jenna without informing him.
So that his family doesn’t criticize his dating life, he claims that Ever is a pre-med student and her father is a doctor…all true but not really. Ever is upset as she points out that she is actually trying to be a dancer and her father now works in a pharmacy.
The aunt barely acknowledges her but that is not what bothers Ever. She had confessed to Rick in the past that while her father had been a doctor, he had to leave it and struggle while in USA. She is unhappy that Rick is trying to make her into something she is not and she leaves.
She has a moment with Xavier and they also kiss before she apologises. They part ways but she still has his jacket while trying to protect herself from the typhoon. While they arrive at the school separately, Rick notices it but writes it off. He apologises to Ever for the way he acted and wants to make it up to her but he is leaving. And so they break up.
What is the Loveboat Festival?
Initially, the summer school plans to hold an event for the parents to showcase everything the students have learned. But it is all put on hold as the typhoon messes up the course and many students leave. Ever accidentally leaves the window of Shu’s studio open during the typhoon which ruins everything including the artwork. Feeling guilty, she decides to help out and make things right.
She ropes in the other students and they set about cleaning the studio. They decide to hold the first Loveboat Festival, a night of food, art and dance to help revive the studio while embracing and celebrating their culture. It takes place splendidly and Ever gets a chance to show her parents her love for dance.
Who does Ever end up with?
Rick returns to attend the Loveboat Festival but he and Ever have ended things for good and are back to friends. They joke around but she is not interested in him romantically anymore. At the end of Love In Taipei, she dances with Xavier and kisses him. She doesn’t have a plan for the future including how to pursue things with him but she is fine with it.
Read More: Love In Taipei Movie Review