The Wasted Times (simplified Chinese: 罗曼蒂克消亡史; traditional Chinese: 羅曼蒂克消亡史; pinyin: Luómàndìkè xiāowáng shǐ) is a 2016 Chinese-Hong Kong thriller film directed by Cheng Er and starring Ge You, Zhang Ziyi and Tadanobu Asano.

[4][5][6] The movie depicts events commencing prior to the Japanese occupation of Shanghai between 1934 and the end of the war in 1945.

The story arcs are told in a non-linear fashion and many events are re-told revealing the truth of what actually occurred.

The central characters are a Chinese crime figure, Lu and his Japanese brother-in-law, Watabe.

The second arc begins three years earlier and introduces Xiao Liu, who is married to Dai.

Xiao Liu is a bored film actress who continues to have affairs much to the embarrassment of Mr. Dai.

Eventually they decide to move Xiao Liu out of Shanghai to northern China to save face for Dai.

Lu orders Zhang's assassination but in the process sacrifices Xiao Wu, his mistress.

He maintained his front of being a loyal family man but secretly continued to keep Xiao Liu imprisoned as a sex slave.

After the events of shootout (and the subsequent occupation of Shanghai) Watabe reveals his Japanese persona and continues to keep Liu as a servant and sexual object.

Watabe laughs in Lu's face saying he knows them and that they won't do anything to hurt his sons.