Thursday, March 28, 2024

Movie Review: ‘Past Lives’ Offers No Easy Answers


Director: Celine Song

Writer: Celine Song

Stars: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro

Synopsis: Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. 20 years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.


As humans, we’re only trying to do our best with what we’re given. Choices we make and the people who become a part of our short lives only happen through circumstance, chance, and ultimately, fate. Throughout, people will come and go and love will be had and lost, but the one thing you can never force in this world is fate.

Past Lives starts with our three characters, Nora (Greta Lee), Arthur (John Magaro), and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) conversing at a bar while onlookers try to guess what their relation to one another is. Without delay, it jumps 24 years into the past to see a younger Nora (then Na Young) and her best friend, a younger Hae Sung. From a young age, the connection the two share is obvious and feels even more than friendship. However, when Na Young has to immigrate with her parents from Seoul to Canada, the bond they share becomes simply a memory.

Fast forward 12 years, and the two reconnect in their 20s after Hae Sung attempts to find Na Young, now Nora, through Facebook. She sees his attempts and reaches out to him looking to rekindle the dying flame. Through emails and plenty of Skype calls back and forth, they pick up as if they had never lost one another and their romance blossoms even more. That is until Nora, heartbreakingly, has to end it between them to focus on her current life, and not dwell in the past. After they end communication, she meets Arthur at a writer’s retreat over the Summer. The bond they share isn’t as quick, or as natural, as the one that is shared between Nora and Hae Sung, but it’s real.

12 years later, Nora and Arthur are now married and living in New York together, and Hae Sung is about to make a trip to see her in person for the first time in 24 years. From the first look shared between them, there is a feeling that is natural yet distant. The quiet walks and time shared feel like everything that should make for a pretty fantastic romance story, but, as shown throughout the film, not all romance is physical, and not all love is acted upon.

In her debut, writer/director Celine Song takes the quiet side of love and fate and creates something full of vibrancy. Her script is subtle, weaving in Nora and Hae Sung’s connections with poignancy, leaving some of the best moments left unsaid rather than spoken. Past Lives revolves heavily around the Korean/Buddhist term “In-Yun.” As explained in the film, this is an all-encompassing term that references fate or the ties two strangers share throughout their many lives. Sometimes the ties two people share bring them together in a way that is explored in their current life, and sometimes two people can feel so right for each other, but it just isn’t their time yet.

The love between Nora and Hae Sung is there, it is evident in every moment and the glances they share, but sometimes fate just gets in the way. While Song’s script beautifully articulates this notion, it’s her directing that truly shines. Her majestic sense of framing continuously shows how these two are so close to being perfect for one another, but there is constant space between them. Coming from a theater background makes sense given how well she positions her characters to tell a story visually rather than verbally. It might, at times, feel too precise, but it never once feels dull.

Bringing to life this vision are three performances worthy of awards consideration. Greta Lee, John Magaro, and Teo Yoo all find their place in this film. Magaro and Yoo, each playing a different half of Nora’s love. For Yoo, he is the theoretical love, someone who feels comforting to her in a fantastical way. While Magaro is the practical love, the person who is there and is present and makes sense. Each of these men wants what the other person has, and both of them effectively display the struggle that goes on with trying to be the right person for her. However, it’s Greta Lee’s transcendent performance that shines above the rest. Torn in two directions, it’s Lee who constantly has to make the impossible choice. Does she follow her heart or does she listen to fate? It’s a complex decision, especially in her case, in which one half feels right while the other half is right, and a choice is made near the end that is genuinely heartbreaking.


That’s because there are no right answers; no matter the choice made, someone will be hurt. Past Lives tells the story of the “right person, wrong time” in a gorgeously subtle way. Even if it can be too subtle at times, Song’s writing and directing help display a longingness of wanting to be the perfect person for someone, but fate makes other plans. The trio of actors all give stellar performances but it’s Greta Lee who should be remembered throughout the year. One of the most brutally honest love stories in quite some time.

Grade: B+

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