Kim Seol-jin

South Korea, 1998: While the country moves closer towards democracy, Young-oak remains at odds with his female-connotated name while attending a boy's school where the air is thick with testosterone. The young man is struggling to fit in and find a new name among corrupt teachers and the teenagers' violent power games, which are as subtle as they are extreme. Behind his mother Jeong-sun's seemingly unflappable exterior, a past long repressed is reemerging, which she is reluctant to face. Yet confrontation is unavoidable – and it leads back to the national tragedy surrounding the Jeju Uprising of April 3rd, 1948.

Young-beom and Seon-hee once lived a picture-perfect life. But after a tragic car accident leaves their teenage son unable to walk, they find themselves desperately wishing for a miracle. One day, when Young-beom encounters a mysterious elderly man in the neighborhood, strange miracles begin unfolding at home. Word spreads quickly, and the village turns to the family, hoping to share in their blessings. While the old man seems like their secret savior, the family soon learns that every blessing casts a shadow: this miracle is no gift or favor—it's a curse that threatens to tear their family apart.

Middle-aged Yeong-gyeong and Su-hwan meet at the wedding party of a common friend. She passes out drunk, and he carries her home on his back. Soon this becomes a daily ritual, as the two broken beings – one’s spirit consumed by alcohol and the other’s body sapped by arthritis – begin to find strength and solace in each other. Their gentle, platonic bond – outside society, outside history – offers a chance at salvation, but is severely stressed by Yeong-gyeong’s repeated relapses.