电影将以上世纪1950和1980年代的双时间轴呈现，故事以张云林（张艾嘉饰）为核心开始，观众将看到以倒叙手法回忆1950年代年轻的张云林（李心洁饰）在二次世界大战后的生活。妹妹张云红（林宣妤饰）的过世使张云林陷入罪恶感之中，此时，她也遇见了日本籍园艺师中村有朋（阿部宽饰），协助她打造纪念花园，并开启一段揪心的爱情故事。
A survivor of a brutal Japanese internment camp, Teoh Yun Ling has been working with the Malaysian authorities punish the Japanese war criminals for several years. She despises the Japanese for killing her younger sister, but to pay tribute to her soul she travels to the highlands to visit the renowned gardener Nakamura Aritomo. Aritomo refuses to work for Yun Ling but instead takes her in as an apprentice so that she can build her own garden. Residing in the tea room, Yun Ling begins working at The Garden of Evening Mists and learns to design a garden. Yet outside of the Malaysian jungle, another war is waging in Malaysia in a continued state of emergency. Malay nationalists are fighting the British for independence, while communist guerillas are brutally killing farmers, miners, and their families in every way they can to gain control over the regions.
