Ardor

A woman in a red sweater visits Mi-heun and bluntly reveals that her husband is her lover, shattering Mi-heun's sense of reality. The confrontation follows Mi-heun into another room, where the visitor strikes her with a blunt object, leaving a scalp wound that requires stitches.

Shaken, Mi-heun and her family relocate to the countryside to begin anew, seemingly escaping the scandal. The husband leaves his beloved job and opens a small bookstore, hoping a quiet life can mend their broken marriage. The move marks the first step in a life that still aches with unanswered questions.

The night’s trauma haunts Mi-heun with lasting headaches and a sense of emptiness she cannot shake. She struggles to vent her heartache and veers toward painkillers for relief, while spending as much time as possible with her daughter which becomes her sole bright consolation.

In-gyu is introduced as a not-so-busy country town doctor who spends much of his spare time fishing and pursuing sexual encounters with visiting women. His wife lives in the city and appears largely indifferent to his lifestyle, setting the stage for a morally loose landscape in which Mi-heun might become entangled.

Mi-heun sits under the blazing sun at a rest stop, where a sharp voice cuts through the heat and acts like an alarm. She initially resists In-gyu's approach but finds herself drawn toward him despite her resistance, hinting at a dangerous attraction.

Following their encounter, Mi-heun slips into a dangerous relationship with In-gyu, aware that love may be impossible but unable to sever the pull. They enter a secret affair that feels thrilling yet morally perilous, as boundaries blur between husband, lover, and self-respect.

The affair grows more entangled as Mi-heun grapples with the thought that love cannot survive in this arrangement. She keeps meeting In-gyu in secret, rationalizing the relationship as a temporary escape from her pain and the life she cannot forgive.

Mi-heun's husband begins a pond project at their new house, hoping to cultivate stability. When workers arrive, Mi-heun leaves to meet her lover, and the husband uncovers the affair, blaming Mi-heun for wrecking his efforts and their fragile life.

While walking through the heavy woods barefoot, Mi-heun is found by her doctor-lover. He takes her back to his house, and both acknowledge that they cannot marry each other, even though they love one another, leaving them to confront the consequences of their choices.

Facing the impossibility of their situation, Mi-heun and her lover wonder what comes next and how they will navigate a life that cannot honor their feelings. The film leaves their future unresolved, continuing to loop around artful danger and unresolved longing.