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THE CRIMSON LIPSTICK BYTES

LATIN AMERICAN TRAINING CENTER (LATC) - as CONS

Thriller - Development 2026

An eccentric private detective grapples with love, fantasy, and betrayal as a seemingly simple affair case spirals into a surreal journey of role play and redemption.

- Year of production
- 2026
- Genres
- Thriller
- Countries
- MALAYSIA
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Budget
- 3 - 5 M$
- Duration
- 112 mn
- Synopsis
- Detective, Derek Kong – known for his sharp mind and eccentric methods, reluctantly takes on what will be his final matrimonial case. He’s tired of these investigations, exposing betrayal after betrayal, only to leave behind shattered lives. But when his young, idealist assistant, Suraya, asks him to guide her to learning how to distinguish good men from bad, he finds himself drawn back into the murky world of love, lies and illusion.
  
  In this modern noir setting, Kong operates in a gritty mysterious world, where shadows obscure the truth and the lines between fantasy and reality blur. His life as a detective isn’t just a job – it’s an intriguing way of life. One that keeps pulling him deeper into the human psyche, despite the toll it takes on him.
  
  The case begins simply enough: Catch a cheating husband and provide proof to the heart-broken wife. But as Kong delves deeper, he senses this case is about more than infidelity. It’s about the illusions people create to protect themselves from painful truths.
  
  Kong sets up a sting at Jay Brown’s funk and soul bar, transforming it into a 1920s themed jazz speakeasy. The nostalgic atmosphere is the perfect setting for deception, where music, role-play and pretence blur reality. Ms. Kate Chin, a woman connected to the film industry, helps him set the stage. But Kate soon brings him another mystery. A priceless Malay dagger has gone missing from the film studio’s props department and a cryptic note, written in lipstick on a mirror, hints at something far more sinister.
  
  Kong finds himself juggling two cases: The missing dagger and the unfaithful husband. Both seemingly unrelated but bound by an undercurrent of illusion and betrayal. The missing dagger, once a mere prop, takes on symbolic significance, representing power and ambition, the crimson rose lipstick, the hidden desires and the dark side of human nature.
  
  As Kong dives deeper, it becomes clear that the cases aren’t as separate as they seem and the mysteries start to converge in unexpected ways. The sting operation at the speakeasy into a surreal stage where everyone plays a role and the lines between truth and illusion blur. His investigation turns into a philosophical exploration of the masks people wear and the lies they tell to survive.
  
  Kong’s cynical view of love and loyalty is tested as he uncovers layer after layer of deception.
  As the cases converge, Kong is forced to confront his own disillusionment with the world. The noir landscape around him, a city of flickering neon lights, smoky jazz clubs and shadowy figures, mirrors the internal struggles of the people he investigates and his own.
  
  The innocence of youth takes on a more compulsive tone as he delves deeper and deeper into the past, with its sights and sounds. Suraya, meanwhile, learns that in this gritty world, the line between good and bad is never clear and the truth is always elusive.
  
  In the end, what started as a simple matrimonial case becomes a profound journey into the human soul. Kong’s final investigation reveals not just the infidelity of a husband or the theft of a priceless dagger but the roles people play to survive and the illusions they construct to protect themselves. A world where deception is often a necessary means of survival.
  
  For detective Kong, this mysterious lifestyle he inhabits, this shadowy world of intrigue, fantasy and betrayal, proves that the pursuit of truth is never straight forward. Sometimes, to uncover the truth, even the most brilliant detective must be willing to lose himself in the illusion.