The interaction of a handful of friends -- and what they'll say in front of each other as well as behind their backs -- sets the stage for this experimental drama from South Korea. One evening Seong-ik (Lee Heui-jun) is having dinner with some friends and shares with them a strange story about hiking with his friend Sang-tae (Kim Tae-hun) and encountering an ancient gravesite, where they discovered a young woman who seemed to be hovering between life and death. In time, the woman came to and told them a remarkable story about how she planned to commit suicide in front of her unfaithful boyfriend, but her plans changed when she was assaulted by a cab driver en route to her lover's apartment. One of Seong-ik's friends, Jeong-hun (Lee Hwa-yong), then passes along some gossip about Sang-tae involving his drinking problem, the college where he used to teach and his relationship with an attractive woman (Kim Jeong-min) related to his boss. Sang-tae continues to be the focus of the conversation as the party moves elsewhere and they're joined by Eun-yeong (Yeom Ji-yun), one of his long-time friends who is clearly attracted to him. Yaktaljadeul (aka The Pit and the Pendulum), which is not related to Edgar Allan Poe's celebrated short story, was the first feature film from writer and director Sohn Young-sung.