Jeongyeon, a twenty-six-year-old aspiring novelist, tries to write her first novel, but struggles to make progress. It’s a story about an alien who comes to Earth in search of absolute, true love - and the reason she’s so thoroughly stuck is that she blames herself for not knowing what love is. Meanwhile, her old classmate Najeong, a painter, is having no such trouble preparing for her solo exhibition. Earbug, Kim Hyo-mi’s debut feature, showcases her fierce and idiosyncratic imagination in a spirited animation where feelings of failure and inferiority, jealousy and anxiety, self-doubt and a sense of grievance erupt with explosive force, propelling Jeongyeon toward a moment of inner transformation, metamorphosis, and liberation. The film’s music and sound - including Maurice Ravel’s Boléro - tease and unsettle Jeongyeon, connecting her to uncomfortable truths she has long turned away from, moments she would rather avoid, and an anxious world, ultimately becoming a catalyst for change. It is a distinctive fantasy brimming with unrestrained energy. (JEONG Jihye)