Junhee (Lee Hyeyoung, last seen in Hong’s In Front of Your Face) is a novelist who's grown disenchanted with her own writing. On a trip to see an old friend, she runs into a film director who was set to adapt one of her novels before the project fell through. One chance encounter leads to another and soon she finds herself having lunch with Kilsoo (Kim Minhee), a well-known actress also questioning her role as an artist.

Sketched in charcoal blacks and bleached whites, The Novelist's Film is Hong at his most personal and profound, as he conjures an eternally inquisitive ode to the artistic process and a loving tribute to his creative partner.