顾城（冯德伦饰）在年幼时亲眼目睹了文化大革命，父亲受迫害，幼小的心灵不再沉默。顾城有着超乎寻常的想象力，写出了令人精神震摄的诗篇：“黑夜给了我黑色的眼睛，我却用它来寻找光明”，成为著名的朦胧诗人。他在火车站邂逅了雷迷（李绮红饰），两人很快坠入爱河，不久就结婚了。而顾城的崇拜者青儿出现在两人的生活中。夫妇俩到德国讲学，青儿向顾城表达了爱意。雷迷邀请了青儿和他们住在一起，青儿和顾城的关系越亲密。顾城对她们俩人都平等地去爱，无分彼此。原本三人相安无事，但生活却带来越来越多的压力，而顾城因对爱情的过分执着，他沉溺在自己的虚幻王国中，无法适应外界的生活方式，不去倾听伴侣的心声。最终，只落得被妻子、情人、孩子抛弃的可悲结局。1993年10月8日，旅居新西兰的中国诗人顾城，杀死了妻子谢烨之后自杀身亡。此事件在国际文坛引起轰动。

顾城别恋的故事时间涵由六十年代至到今天，空间涵盖中国，新西兰以至德国，她要说人要有表达自由，新年化在不同文化环境中遗忘了本身的语言，然而故事是…

Alastair Sooke explores the mysterious appeal of unfinished works of art. From Dickens's unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Jane Austen's Sanditon to Coleridge's Kubla Khan, he talks to those who have attempted to finish these literary enigmas and those who believe that any such task is impossible. 　　In a film that picks through literature's leftovers, Sooke explores the moral dilemmas as well as the commercial opportunities finishing presents. And he considers how, in the modern era, artists have purposefully left their work unfinished. 　　Paul Morley, Mark Lawson, John Mullan, Robert McKee, Sarah Churchwell, Gwyneth Hughes, Andrew Motion and Mike Figgis amongst others, help Sooke work his way through a never-ending story.