Three women live in the country under the same roof: a young widow, her daughter, and her mother-in-law. One day, a painter from Seoul comes to stay with them, claiming to be a good friend of the widow’s late husband. The child quickly forms a strong bond with the painter. Warm feelings begin to grow between him and the widow but her mother-in-law does not share these sentiments. This wonderfully touching film features a terrific performance by Eun-hi Choe as the widow. Shin finds just the right tone for his story, playing down the social criticism to emphasize instead an elegiac portrait of people for whom happiness is so near and yet finally so far away.