Donghwa, a poet in his thirties, accompanies his fiancée, Junhee, from Seoul to her parents’ home outside Icheon. Noticing her surprise at the size of the house and gardens, Junhee suggests taking a quick tour. But as they walk along the entrance driveway, they run into Junhee’s father, who invites Donghwa to spend the day with the family: himself, his wife—who is also a poet—and their two adult daughters.

It is a quiet, introspective day, filmed in a deliberately casual, low-resolution style to mimic the blurred perspective with which Donghwa sees the world when he is not wearing his glasses. The younger ones visit a Buddhist temple by the river. The father prepares a stew using one of the chickens they keep in a coop in the garden. Meanwhile, as the characters repeatedly step aside for private conversations, all kinds of relationships are tested—fraternal, parental, marital, romantic, social, and even professional, tainted by envy.

That evening, Donghwa gets drunk at dinner, dropping his mask of courtesy—to the disappointment of Junhee’s parents, who had been assessing him as a potential partner for their daughter, and to the delight of Junhee’s younger sister.