Following her mother’s death, Maria is left to care for her father and her siblings. When her brothers leave home, she has to lay aside her dreams of becoming a writer to look after her cancer-stricken father. One day, when the entire family has gathered to celebrate their father’s birthday, he announces that he’s getting remarried. Maria is fraught with mixed emotions: anxiety about her future, a sense of deprivation, and also jealousy. She helps him with the wedding preparation, hoping to change his mind but realizing that she must become independent. For a debut film, this new Spanish director’s talent in following the characters’ emotions is striking, particularly its depiction of inner turbulences of a thirty-something would-be writer, who has yet to achieve success due to obligations beyond her control. Maria has been keeping a hollow relationship with her boyfriend and none of her books has been published; she seemingly has nothing to be proud of. There is still hope for her though, as we can see she hasn’t abandoned her dreams, despite her situation implying that her life could have been worthless. (RHEE Souewon)