Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine takes a deep dive into the realm of grief and poetically explores intense human emotions embedded in the atmosphere. For Shin-ae, a widow with a young son, forgiveness is an unfathomable path to peace as her comfort only exists within the agony of contempt and destruction caused by her son’s murder. While nothing seems to redeem her tormented existence, Jong-chan (Song Kang-ho), a local mechanic, accompanies Shin-ae through her journey of despair with grace and compassion, hinting at a beam of hope and self-redemption penetrating through the dark clouds.