User reviews

Such a beautiful picture film. It has everything you want from a good movie: a cute romance, philosophy to guide the narrative, characters that feel real even if you don't get to see what they do (in his case) or barely see anything (in her case). It's as if the scriptwriters managed to weave a touching romance out of snippets, without it feeling like you're watching something unfinished.

There's this one scene where they show how time passes. I loved the cinematography behind that. Simple yet rewarding visually.

From this movie I learned that you should accept love and realise that you don't have to give up what you have for what you could have. You can accept both those feelings of love inside of you and even if it hurts, it's what I believe makes the soul feel alive.

I felt like this film touched on so many subtle, unsaid things between people: love that's lost because two people don't know how to/don't want to prioritize it, the convenience of being in some relationships, the feeling like you're saying something just because you think it's the right thing to say (especially around the people that you think need to hear it) when deep down it doesn't feel like the truth whatsoever, and going along with something because you've already committed to it instead of doing it because you want to do it. I know that's vague, but I didn't want to spoil anything, but maybe once you've seen it you'll know what I mean. It was all handled so beautifully and had such heartbreakingly sincere human experiences. I think it's safe to say that in the end, we have no effing idea what we are doing and how it will turn out, but we just hope it's the right decision in the moment.

And first-time director Celine Song has created one of these. It's a masterpiece of deeply genuine human emotion. And that masterpiece is Past Lives.

Song's dialogue is understated to the point of risking not creating a connection with the characters. It would not have worked with sub-par actors. But the risk payed off big time-all of these actors are wonderful, allowing their body language and line delivery fill in the gaps with their characters' true psychology.

A simple plot becomes a richly complex story of lost love, sought closure, and found purpose; and it's all due to Celine Song having the proper understanding of when to allow silence to speak.

Yet despite the frequent bouts of silence, not a moment feels wasted. Every shot and sentence is meticulously edited to give us exactly what we need to feel each moment with its full emotional power.

This very well may be the best film of 2023. It's the work of a master storyteller, and it's only her first film.

The wind, the leaves, the streets, the towers; everything exists with a supple glow. There's a love for environment behind the camera, where director Celine Song stands, telling her story. Kirchner, her cinematographer, lends immense craft to the film's 35mm scenery. Nora, Hae Sung, Arthur; the three central characters are handled with wonderful grace. They easily communicate complex emotion. They're likable, and they're relatable. New York City, Seoul; I hardly know either of them practically, but now I feel like I do, in some intimate way. These two cities are dearly loved. Longing; what did you think of when you finished this film?

Past Lives is an honest, delicate, and ambling movie. Nora, once a little girl from urban Korea, chooses her path as an American writer after immigrating with her family. She marries a different writer (Arthur, a Jewish New Yorker), adopts the culture of NYC, and chases her ambition. She's still Korean, but the identity ebbs. She doesn't sound like it anymore. Hae Sung, her childhood friend who never left the country, is very much Korean; his path is that of an engineer living with his parents, which he describes as ordinary. He loves Nora deeply. He loved her when she left Seoul at twelve, and loved her still at the points in which their lives intersected. Nora loves him too, in her own complicated, almost grieving way. He is her connection to a childhood she longs for, washed away in her memories, and seldom revisited because of the complicated feelings that come with being a child immigrant.

The story is simple but it bursts at the seams with emotion and humor. Admittedly slow, but without wasting your time. I connected with all three of the main characters to some degree, each carried by an actor with the apparent gravity of a veteran superstar. They are emotionally intelligent, and they react to each other in interesting, startlingly realistic ways. Celine Song plays on a very specific feeling of aching; for a forgotten time in one's life, for an identity, or for a lover. It's particular, but looking around the audience as we left the theater, you could see that most people were in their own heads, thinking of something (or someone). We all long for something lost.

Perhaps not all of us, but probably most, have also wrestled with the feeling of permanence in the journey we choose for ourselves. You only live once, said Drake, but that's really a terrifying thought sometimes. Carving out one lifetime - engineered across thousands of individual decisions - means foregoing an infinite number of others. People deal with this in a number of ways; providence, reincarnation, and an afterlife, to name a few. Nora and Hae Sung might be soulmates, but will they know it in this lifetime, or the next?

I really can't wait for the next project Song works on, and that goes double for the cast. I sunk my teeth into this deeply romantic, deeply resonant film, which is capable of bringing immense longing to the surface. It is coated with a beautiful score and draped atop memorable settings. It's a home-run.

9/10 for making me want to visit Seoul.

Here is a film that looks nothing, offers a beautiful evening, full of sincerity and missed opportunity. Very well played and an irreproachable aesthetic, hard not to be touched by this feeling, that we all knew one day.

The staging fits with the passing of time, we navigate in space as we navigate in our lives, our choices, our hopes and our regrets. There is something very poetic and somewhat tragic in all this and it was difficult for me not to be touched by its final which is as simple as successful.

A film that is as touching as it is just, offering a point of view on expatriation and the roots of feelings, while offering a nice surprise on the veracity of feelings through a life and the choices that result.

Like the characters, I didn't see the time pass...

I saw the trailer to "Past Lives" before a showing of "Master Gardener," and immediately knew I wanted to see it. I have an affinity for Asian cinema, but more than that, the concept of past lovers reconnecting after decades made for an intriguing premise, one that I had to see unfold on the big screen. And after seeing it unfold (on the big screen), I honestly can't tell how I feel about "Past Lives," which, I guess, means it left me feeling kind of cold.

With so many people gushing over this movie, the fact that I fail to see what others are seeing has made me somewhat uncomfortable. I'd have loved to witness the "pitch-perfect romance" that critics say "Past Lives" contains. I wish I managed to see the "first great film of the year"; instead, I watched a perfectly watchable film, but one that didn't leave much of an imprint on me. "Past Lives" is less a romance and more a dramatic exploration of what could have been. And while that seems like it could be interesting, the unlikeable character of Nora, played by Greta Lee, and the distinctly unromantic and uncomfortable story progression made for a decidedly cringy experience. So, let's start with Nora.

Greta Lee is a great actress - there is no doubt about that. The thing is that her character, Nora, is extremely unlikable and unsympathetic. Throughout the course of the entire film she makes mean, borderline cruel choices that put others through the emotional ringer. This left me entirely unsympathetic to her romantic plight - however, I did enjoy Teo Yoo's portrayal as Hae Sung, and especially John Magaro's character of Arthur; both of them play entirely believable and relatable characters who become caught up in situations either of their own doing or of someone else's.

As I mentioned, "Past Lives" is also remarkably unromantic. Instead of seeing two people fall in love against all odds, you'll witness a bizarre sort of reconnection with a third-wheel that is obviously against everything that's occurring. It's not romantic - purposefully so, I think - but it's also not very fun to watch, which might be the point, but still. The whole "will they, won't they" scenario begins to fall short as you'll begin to realize that you don't care whether they will or they won't because of how awkward the entire scenario is. And with an ending that feels more of a fizzle than a bang, when the credits rolled I couldn't help but feel empty. "That's life," the movie seems to say, hoping you simply accept what it's showing you.

The more I think about this film, the less I like it, which sucks because I really wanted to like it. Call me a romantic, but I was hoping for a more straightforward love story, and what I got was something that was awkward, uncomfortable, and un-enjoyable.

The wife and I aren't action movies and gravitate towards movies with stories but this was just ok. Lots of emotional scenes but the interaction was awkward and unrealistic. The actors didn't need to rehearse their lines as there was little dialogue. It had some emotional moments but the movie lacked character engagement. We both felt it spent too much time on the artistic side and not enough time developing the storyline. They went from Korea to Toronto to New York with basically no indication or reason how or why We both agree it was average to good but certainly not deserving of an 8.4 rating.

Having played at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals this year to rave reviews, A24's "Past Lives" is every bit as extraordinary as many are claiming it is. I've always liked many A24 films, so after the film's sterling critical acclaim, I was very interested in seeing it. There's no doubt that this film is just about as supremely impactful and thoughtful a directorial debut, that analyzes and meditates on universal themes through the lens of unique subtexts and incisive, superbly written character development. The film's title derives from the South Korean concept of "In Yun," which means that the experiences with other people that we meet and spend time with in life today are derived or based on equivalences from past lives. The film follows Nora (Greta Lee,) a writer originally from South Korea who had immigrated first to Toronto and then to New York City. She's married to Arthur (john Magaro,) but has also been connecting over FaceTime with her childhood friend Hae Sung (Seung Min Yim.) He has recently finished his mandatory military service in Korea, and hasn't seen Nora in over a decade.

While some of the basic themes that Celine Song's screenplay touches on may seem clichéd, viewers should know that their treatment in the story and relative to the powerful character development is completely original and creative. There is a deep emotional impact on the viewer as the most basic themes of the story (love, interpersonal connection, friendship, immigration, cultural identity) affect the three main characters each in different and wholly authentic ways. The screenplay is superbly written, establishing dramatic tension in an interpersonal way while thoughtfully taking its time to further develop the storytelling. At a relatively short 106 minutes, the film is perfectly paced, never seeming too fast or too slow to allow the viewers to appropriately interpret the characters and their unique qualities and place within the story. Being able to provide such a powerful performance to complement this material is no easy feat, but all three main actors (Lee, Min Yim, and Magaro) do so with flying colors. Their emotions and chemistry are completely genuine from the first frame until the credits roll. While the film's stakes may seem relatively low (and, to some extent, they can be,) Song's formal, technical, and artistic control of the medium is no less extraordinary. The film is beautifully shot and scored, presenting an understated, airy, and gentle vibe that complements but never overbears the outstanding acting and writing on display. It's lyrical, enthralling, and fully liberated from derivativeness or tedium. Even simple location shots, such as a carousel near a waterfront, help complement the emotional connection between the characters in such shots in a soulful and deliberate way.

In short, "Past Lives" provides a well-made and well-acted reflection on how love, longing, and culture make us learn and grow over time so powerful and rooted in original and creative storytelling. As a result, in my opinion, it is the best film released since Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" in 2019. Bravo! 10/10.

It's clear I am in a minority, but I didn't enjoy this very much.

As a plus, the basic themes of chance influences on relationships, cultural identity, and changing character over time are all of interest to me, and I did find myself reflecting on them afterwards.

I also liked to see daily life in Korea - films like this help to overcome many stereotypes that Westerners have.

The principal problem was that I didn't warm to the character of Nora - she seemed ambitious, self-centred and unempathic. Having said that, ambition can be a good thing, and it was clearly something that appealed to Hae Sung and set her apart from others in Korea. But, much as I like strong female characters, I did not find Nora likeable, which made it hard to get involved in the plot, or to be sad about the ending.

There was no chemistry between her and her husband - perhaps that was intentional, given the plot, but it seemed odd that he was so devoted to her.

I found the dialogue a bit tedious.

And some of the scenes were odd: e.g. When she turns up at a writing retreat and there's nobody there - not even a housekeeper, so she walks in and settles in to a room. Huh? And then when Arthur turns up, her first sentence, after introducing herself is to say "You got the worst room". I mean, who says something like that to a total stranger?

It also seemed hard to believe that two people who were writers could earn enough to live in New York (even in a less fancy bit of New York) - wouldn't they have to have 2nd jobs to survive, especially when starting out? Things did seem to have rather fallen into Nora's lap.

Finally, and as an indication of how weird *i* am, I could barely focus on the conversation in the fairground scene (? Coney Island) because there was a carousel in the background and the horses went round and round but did not go up and down. For a Brit this is very peculiar and against the natural order of things.

I loved the film, it stayed with me for days.

People who watch it will either find it to be super boring or will keep thinking about it for days.

The cinematography, the dialogues, performance and Score are just beautiful. The silent moments between them are beautiful too.

I do not recommend this to everyone, but if you love movies like Before Sunrise trilogy or the Irish movie Once or Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless mind. You will love this one too.

But, for me having watched the 2018 Indian film 96 many times I could not stop comparing these two movies. , I mean the subway scene with them holding the pole just staring at one n another.

The What ifs. Both the movies are so similar concept wise.

Now here's a story that has something for us all, if you consider all the past events and things that went before, all the options, permutations, that could have ended in relations, outcomes, futures, roads untaken, that then fall. As Jung Hae Sung and Nora meet as kids, there's a connection but then adios she bids, moving to the USA, kimchi days are left astray, different plays shape different folks - the lives they've lived. Correspondence over time keeps thoughts reflective, then meeting up creates a kind of retrospective, what could have been, and what could be, things preordained, but choice is free, quite intriguing, but it rests on your perspective.

I went to see this movie with my wife based on the stellar ratings. I imagined it might be something on the idea of "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and SpringI "-a Korean film from 2003 that was profound and moving. However, this was not the case. I wanted to like it, but this film is mediocrity at best. Acting lacks dimension. Tries to be profound, but just isn't- although the plot contains an intriguing idea. Just enough tension and character development to keep the viewer barely engaged. This film is a solid 5 out of 10.

I am starting to doubt the veracity of online reviews as this hyping of mediocre films is happening more where it didn't use to be so blatant. Are these rave reviews generated by AI? Something is not right here.

Past Lives is a beautifully understated and emotionally resonant film about the power of love, loss, and second chances. The film follows Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), two childhood friends who are reunited 20 years after they were separated by Nora's family's emigration from South Korea. The film explores the complex emotions that arise when these two old friends reconnect, as they grapple with the choices they've made in their lives and the possibility of what might have been.

Song's direction is assured and sensitive, and she elicits outstanding performances from her two leads. Lee and Yoo are both incredibly charismatic and believable as Nora and Hae Sung, and their chemistry is undeniable.

The film's cinematography is gorgeous, with Shabier Kirchner's lens capturing the beauty of both Seoul and New York City. The film's score is also superb, with a haunting and evocative soundtrack that perfectly complements the film's emotional tone.

Past Lives is a beautifully made and deeply moving film that will stay with you long after you've seen it. It's a film about love, loss, and the power of second chances, and it's sure to resonate with anyone who has ever experienced the pain of separation or the joy of reunion.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Some of the things that I particularly liked about the film include:

The film's understated and realistic depiction of love and relationships.

The film's sensitive and nuanced portrayal of the Asian American experience.

The film's beautiful cinematography and evocative score.

The film's two lead performances, which are both incredibly charismatic and believable.

Overall, I thought Past Lives was a beautiful and moving film that is sure to stay with me long after I've seen it. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a thoughtful and emotionally resonant film to watch.