In college, I began fixating on my appearance. I obsessed over my large, round nose, lamented how it threw off the balance of my entire face, didn’t go with any of my outfits, and even seemed to wobble about on my face whenever I ran. It had no redeeming qualities except for the functions every single nose has?namely, breathing and smelling?it added nothing to my face or aesthetic value. I wished I had been born with my mother’s pretty nose. I wished it so fervently that I dreamed of ripping my nose off my face.

Ji-hye is hunkered down at home over the holiday season, her face swollen and bruised as she recovers from undergoing yet another plastic surgery. When she receives a call that her aunt has died, she braves the blizzard to pay her final respects to the woman who played an integra part in shaping who she is today.

As she reunites with her cousin and an old family friend, Ji-hye recounts her relationship with her estranged father and how one devastating moment shattered the peaceful bubble in which she had firmly believed she was ensconced. But, are childhood memories to be trusted? As Ji-hye grapples with her past and the complicated emotional baggage surrounding her relationships with parental figures, she watches a video clip that may just speak more truth than anything she’s ever been told in her life….

Translated into English from its original Korean, Molting explores the intersection of identity and family and asks the questions, “What does it mean to live as your true self, first and foremost? What do we owe ourselves, and what do we owe the people we love?”