‘Past Lives’ Review: A simply stunning piece of cinema

Past Lives is the most beautiful film you can see this year. It’s an exquisite story from beginning to end that reflects the real-life experience of director Celine Song. The poignant tragedy in the film is also its animating idea: that choosing one life means losing another.

In South Korea, a young girl named Na Young (Moon Seung-ah) was best friends with a boy named Hae Sung (Leem Seung-min). They were extremely close and both of their parents knew that the kids were fond of one another. Their budding friendship would be put on hold once Na Young discovered her family would be moving to Canada. All grown up and going by the name Nora (Greta Lee), she lives in New York in pursuit of becoming a playwright. An adult Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) did a stint in the military and is working on his degree in South Korea. Once their paths cross on social media, the two attempt to find as adults what was lost as children.

At first, it seemed like Nora was immovable as her only focus was becoming a playwright. But Hae Sung didn’t seem interested when she pitched the idea of leaving South Korea. After connecting online, the two would Skype day and night for weeks on end. Watching them together onscreen was like watching a real-life couple struggling through a long-distance relationship. This is the early stage of their adulthood and, in my opinion, Hae Sung makes the mistake of stating he had no desire to go to America. Years later, Nora marries a man named Arthur (John Magaro) but only after she cut off Hae Sung to focus on her career since she saw their constant communication would net nothing.

It’s such a relative story told in a beautiful manner that you’d never know this was a directorial debut for Celine Song. Song is up for “Best Director” in a myriad of awards organizations including our very own Georgia Film Critics Association (GAFCA). It’s a rare find to see a director open themselves up like Song did to tell a story of their own experience. In this manner, it bodes well for a film since millions can relate to having their lives upended as kids due to no fault of their own. Present-day children are so fortunate to have the technology that they have. Now, staying connected is as easy as ever. Before smartphones and mobile apps, our choices were to either write letters or beg our parents to make a long-distance call (back when those types of calls were a premium).

From beginning to end, one word to describe the film is “wholesome”. A24 has built up a solid reputation amongst cinephiles as they continuously choose solid films to build on. The acting in this film is brilliant. Greta Lee has immediately made a fan out of me and I’ll be going through her catalog this weekend. Her onscreen chemistry with Teo Yoo is unbelievable and that’s not even including the fact that they shared “the look” (when you find two people that “look” perfect for each other).

Past Lives gets a 10 out of 10. It’s a beautiful piece of cinema that’s a great relief as it floats amongst a sea of meritless films. Outside of showing two characters in bed and a few translations of curse words, it’s a good film for teens and up to see (rated PG-13). There’s no way this magnificent film won’t reap some reward come springtime. As stated before, A24 doesn’t miss.

Past Lives is available to rent and to stream online.

-Jon Jones

Photos: Courtesy of A24