With a singular voice that distinguishes him from his New Taiwan Cinema contemporaries, Lin Cheng-sheng adds to his brief, but already remarkable, filmography with Sweet Degeneration, his third film in two years. As with A Drifting Life and Murmur of Youth, Lin’s new film delicately unfolds, gradually building to a climax of stunning emotional reverberations. Drawn from a particularly painful episode in the director’s past, Sweet Degeneration delves into the uneasy bonds a brother and sister have with each other and the people around them.

春生（李康生 饰）服完兵役了，姐姐阿芬（陈湘琪 饰）化好妆，在胸罩里垫了海绵，要去接他回家，却没有遇见弟弟，反倒丢了手机。春生回到家后，只呆了片刻就不辞而别，还偷了父亲的钱。春生开始在台北放纵的生活，招妓、泡吧、闲逛，直到钱花光了，不得不去找工作，但又做不长久。儿童时代，他曾喜欢听姐姐的男朋友阿海吹萨科斯风，自己也学会了一点。有天他看到了阿海当年用过的一把名贵的萨科斯风被拍卖，想起了当年听阿海在海滩上为姐姐演奏的旧事。