Since The Journals of Musan, Park Jung-bum has been a favorite on the festival circuit for his punishingly bleak yet deeply human dramas about those struggling at the margins of society, and this latest slow-burning portrait of the human condition is no exception. The actor-director himself stars as Jeong-chul, a mountain hermit who is drawn out of his solitary existence by the sound of Ji-su singing in an empty town square. He follows and befriends the teenaged girl, a fellow stubborn outsider in a cruel world. After falling out with her family, Ji-su runs off and joins the underworld, while Jeong-chul tries his hardest to save her from destroying herself.