Following the birth, In-hwa (Park Ha-seon) hands over her baby for adoption. She unsmilingly wanders around the port area of Busan, hanging out with a friend, Sang-mi (Tae-jung Kim), to whom she barely speaks, and engaging in a relationship of gazes with a young boy. Everywhere there is social unrest, violence and pain, which the helmer, like In-hwa, observes without involvement. Then In-hwa decides she wants the baby back. There are several striking images, some evocative (a silent karaoke shot through a window stands out), but all overstay their welcome. In the final scene, things teeter over into the risible. Grainy lensing adds to the general despair.