The Guest

A partly lame father and his ten-year old son are travelling to Seoul in the aftermath of the Korean War. They are seeking treatment for the boy, who has tuberculosis. The father believes this has been guaranteed by an American, although it becomes clear that this is a hollow promise. They accidentally stumble on a village hiding from the world and spend a few days resting there while the father earns hospitality by doing odd jobs and entertaining the villagers with his music on the pipe of the title. He woos a young woman and frees the village of a rat infestation in exchange for cash, but the collective paranoia of the villagers begins to manifest as they refuse to pay him. As he comes to realise the reasons for the village's self-imposed isolation, the piper plots his terrible revenge.