If you’re looking for the next surreal-indie-art film, look no further than Abigail Harm. Living in isolation in New York City, Abigail (Amanda Plummer) is a 50 something, single woman living the simple life; No husband and no children, only an ailing father and a dead mother. Reminiscent of an older looking Miranda July, Abigail makes her living by reading stories to the blind. The film opens with Abigail charismatically reading a passage from “Into the Looking Glass” to one of her clients (fitting for a woman who spends her days feeling like an outsider). With a daily routine of going to and from clients’ homes, she is never seen by anyone- literally, all her clients are blind- and she longs for love and companionship.

One night, a wounded man (Will Patton) appears in her apartment. After dressing his wounds, he repays her by offering her the chance to not only be loved, but fall in love. Intrigued by his claim, the man continues to explain to Abigail the secret. Based on the Korean folklore “The Woodcutter and the Nymph,” the man explains that if Abigail was to take the robe of a man, he will follow her forever. That man would hypothetically be a “victim to love.” Cut to- Abigail entering an abandoned building and finds a man (Tetsuo Kuramochi) bathing. Seizing her opportunity, she takes his robe and sure enough, he becomes hers.

With a daily routine of going to and from clients’ homes, she is never seen by anyone- literally, all her clients are blind- and she longs for love and companionship.

Abigail Harm is, at the core, a story about loneliness and the humanistic desire to be loved. Cinematically, it has that beautiful Terrance Malick look of surreal-ness in subtlety. Multiple long takes enhance Plummer’s incredible raw talent, she plays Abigail with such heart. Director Lee Isaac Chung is a genius in creating this fairytale-like world in a seemingly realistic environment. For a woman who reads to people for a living, the film is overly quiet; there is not a lot of dialogue, mostly ambient sounds and score.

With roots deep in folklore, it could have been easy to pass this story off as cheesy or insincere, but it’s not. It’s a thinker, which is the only way this film could have been done successfully. Abigail Harm is more than just a film, it’s an art piece and an experience.