Before World War II, modern Seoul in the thirties was an urban landscape of cafes, hotels, and show rooms, presented compellingly (and clearly under Japanese colonial governance). A vain housewife, drawn to such places, desires a life free from traditional chores and wifely obligations. She rejects her bird in a cage status and is expelled from her home by her husband Seon-yong. Abandoning her young daughter Jeong-hee, Ae-soon moves into a hotel with her lover Chang-geon, while her heartbroken daughter is encouraged by her father to go on with life. Ae-soon finds out that her lover is not rich at all but is a laundry worker. When he robs the hotel, Ae-soon turns him in. She then meets a fate that turns her life to darkness. One of the featured films in The Past Unearthed: The Second Encounter/ Collection of Chosun Films in the 1930s, a boxed set, Sweet Dream is the earliest surviving Korean film, now restored.