Lee Chang-dong’s new drama Possible Love began streaming worldwide on Netflix on Friday, Nov. 6, giving audiences a first chance to see the South Korean director’s first feature in eight years.

The film follows two married couples whose lives intersect after a documentary filmmaker approaches a laid-off worker and his wife. The story brings questions of employment, class and marriage into the couples’ relationships, according to Netflix’s release notice. Its principal cast includes Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Cho Yeo-jeong and Zo In-sung.

Chang-dong has said the story grew from the aftermath of mass layoffs at South Korea’s Ssangyong Motor in 2009. The layoffs and the confrontation that followed became a turning point for workers and their families, the director told the Associated Press. The film uses a documentary project within its plot to connect that labor story with the private lives of its characters.

Possible Love received the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and South Korea selected it as its submission for the Academy Awards’ international feature category. Its global Netflix debut follows theatrical screenings in several countries.

Sources: Associated Press coverage; Netflix release announcement.