Celine Song’s directorial debut, Past Lives, is a fantastic and heart-melting chronicle of changing lives and questioning fate that features a trio of award-worthy performances and relatable depictions of hanging onto what could’ve been.
Song establishes the film’s central dynamic between Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) incredibly well by taking viewers back to the early parts of their relationship – when they were just kids. Even at such a young age, there are tender feelings that can’t be ignored, and it genuinely feels like the start of a fated love that’ll last a lifetime. However, after Nora’s parents take her out of South Korea to immigrate to the United States, the potential of their relationship is cut short. As years pass, Nora and Hae Sung continue to think about each another, even as they go through new life events and relationships. Eventually, long after Nora is married to Arthur (John Magaro), the two meet face to face again, causing them to reflect on what could’ve been.
The way that Song stretches out these lingering feelings and curiosities between Nora and Hae Sung helps deeply embed their emotions into viewers. Some of the best scenes of the film come from this time between Nora leaving and getting married, as they show some of the real potential of their relationship. There’s a relatability to how they find each other again and attempt to stay connected that’s heavily relevant in the social media and technology-driven dating scene we’re in. It’s an absolute treat to see the sparks that were there when they were just kids reignite and take new form as adults. There are even some interesting contrasts to the different lives they lead in their distant homes, and it ends up playing a key role when they reunite years later.
The strongest emotions come from the subtle nature of the hidden yet clear obstacles that keep them from truly exploring or really defining their feelings for each other. The distance, technical struggles, and inner desires to explore self-interests are present throughout their attempts to rekindle their relationship, but it’s never enough to overcome reality. Song creates an excellent and crushing depiction of a will they/won’t they relationship that has such clear and present feelings they just can’t find the time to explore further. It’s what makes their struggle feel so real, and their time away from each other carries this subtle, but tangible emptiness that you know will bring them back together.
Not to mention, Lee and Yoo are undeniably flawless in evoking all the emotions of Nora and Hae Sung’s story. They not only bring a compelling and caring charm to their characters that makes them easily engaging, but also share a strong chemistry that makes the connection between their characters palpable. These two really embody and evoke the concept of Past Lives perfectly and do a great job making this experience about dissecting what could’ve been so enthralling. Lee and Yoo should easily be considered top contenders for awards this year, as they bring an openness to these characters that makes the entire last third of the film utterly captivating.
The final third of Past Lives is where the film’s themes, concepts, and emotions are at an all-time high, as watching Nora and Hae Sung come to terms with the reality of their feelings leaves such a deep impact. The concept of “In-Yun” – a Korean belief that all our encounters are ones that have also happened in a past life and connections of love happen continually – is perfectly weaved into the characters’ questioning of fate and adds an intriguing culturally-specific layer to the story. Even just the ways that their differing mindsets stem from their distinct upbringings are interesting depictions of the impact and change in perspective that comes from immigrating. Nora and Hae-Sung’s story is a complex journey to understanding love and acts as a meaningful and heartbreaking reality check for the two of them.
Still though, what makes the film’s final stretch have such a lasting impact is how Song just nails these characters and themes. Arthur is such a surprisingly loveable part of the final third and it’s not just because Magaro is so easy to love in the role. There’s a great, almost meta moment where Arthur talks about how he might write himself in this instance as mean and uncaring in one of his scripts, but that he doesn’t really feel that way. He obviously has his qualms about Hae Sung coming to see Nora since he’s aware of their feelings, but he genuinely loves Nora enough to not get in the way of them figuring things out. It’s a depiction of what real love is like and it carries into the conclusions that Nora and Hae Sung come to perfectly.
The final conversations between Nora and Hae Sung are heartbreaking yet still manage to be satisfying and genuine. Even though their lives don’t play out like they thought they could, Nora and Hae Sung are able to understand what their relationship is maybe meant to be a little better and come to a place of acceptance that’s more meaningful. Yet, there’s still that tender love they have for each another that isn’t going away and that isn’t a bad thing. Literally, everything about this final act is perfect – down to the performances, the music from Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen, and Song’s ability to make these tough conversations have real sticking power.
Past Lives represents the complexity and expansiveness of what love really means and it hits all the right notes in making Nora and Hae Sung’s story a grounded epic that features universal emotions and ideas that audiences can easily grasp and think on. Song crafts quite possibly the best feature debut of the year so far and Past Lives has the kind of top-tier performances, direction, and genuine heart to be considered one of the biggest must-watches of the year.
