Many critics have hailed 2023 as one of the best film years in recent memory. I don’t necessarily disagree, although there were fewer “best of the best” films for me this year than in recent years. That said, there was quite a variety of great movies, from big box-office draws to the smallest of small independent films, many of which I loved and will return to over and over. One of those small films started the year out big. Past Lives was the big premiere in a festival full of great films at last January’s Sundance Film Festival. Released last summer by arthouse juggernaut A24, the film continues to make waves, landing on numerous critic groups’ best-of lists and grabbing award nominations. And the film is worthy of the buzz. It’s a beautiful glimpse at what happens when two people look back on missed opportunities and wonder what might have been.
We start in the Korean equivalent of middle school. Na Young and Hae Sung are classroom competitors and childhood sweethearts. Their relationship, however, does not get the opportunity to blossom. Na Young’s family is emigrating to Canada. After a quick “goodbye” fitting for 12 year olds, we jump forward twelve years. Na Young, who now goes by Nora (Greta Lee of Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse) and lives in NYC, finds out that Hae Sung (German-Korean actor Teo Yoo) has been looking for her on social media. She reconnects, and the two become close over the Internet even as they are physically so far away. The two feel torn, however, as they each are pursuing their chosen careers and cannot come together in either New York or Seoul. Therefore, Nora decides they need to take a break.
We fast forward another 12 years. Nora, a writer married to Arthur (John Magaro of First Cow), a writer she met shortly after her break with Hae Sung, finds out that Hae Sung is coming to New York and wants to see her. Over the next couple of days, the two not only reminisce on their past, but talk about what would have happened had Hae Sung chosen to come to New York–and Nora–twelve years earlier. It becomes clear to Nora that Hae Sung’s whole purpose in coming to America is to see her. Hae Sung struggles to suppress feelings that he still has. Arthur deals with wondering if he is the one standing in the way of true love. And Nora tries to balance the reality of the life she now has with the truth that these two men each love her in very different but very authentic ways.
Past Lives is Celine Song’s directorial and screenwriting debut, and it is a great one. Like her character Nora, Song moved to Canada when she was 12 and became a playwright. And like her character, she shared the experience of having her childhood sweetheart come meet her and her husband in the west. Leaning into the advice to write what you know, Song crafts a beautiful screenplay based on that experience. Each character wrestles with emotions in a quiet, realistic way. There is no bombast you would typically expect from a movie about a “love triangle”; there’s no jealous rage or fighting for the one you love. Part of that is the decision to make the inner turmoil inner, especially for Nora, who feels stuck in the middle on a more-meta level. For Nora, Hae Sung is not a guy she is still in love with (it’s hard to say if she is or not), but an icon for a life and an identity that she had to leave behind. And the relationships are messy. Hae Sung really never had closure and it feels like his life got stuck at the point that Nora “broke up” with him. Arthur lacks certainty: we find out that he and Nora married so she could get her green card. Is theirs really a relationship of soul mates? And Nora fights with herself to provide either of them with whatever answer they need.
As for the filmmaking, Song’s work is even more impressive. The jump to playwright to screenwriter seems like it wouldn’t be too difficult. But her only previous directorial work was putting on a production of Chekhov’s The Seagull with the video game The Sims 4. That’s not exactly a normal stop on the filmmaker’s road to directorial success. Yet Song possesses a sense of pacing and composition that belies her inexperience. She’s incredibly patient with her camera and her cuts, giving us time to soak in the moments in which we see the characters think as they interact. It really is an amazing first feature for a director.
Much of the success of Song’s work necessarily flows from her actors. All three actors have to do so much work below the surface. We have to see them feel because they aren’t necessarily going to tell us how they are feeling. Lee is almost radiant as Nora; we get a sense how both of these men have fallen so hard. Magaro is a wonderful blend of warmth and awkwardness, dealing with as odd a circumstance as a husband could face. And Yoo Teo gets the most thankless job of all, playing as constrained as he can to convey the cultural, language, and emotional barriers that Hae Sung carries. These three actors coupled with the material Song gives them is a wondrous combination.
Past Lives isn’t the kind of movie that grabs you with showiness. But, given the chance, it will grab you. Quiet and subtle, it takes it time to reveal its emotionally complex and emotionally satisfying circumstances. And it is worth all of that time.
Past Lives is available to buy or rent on demand, on Blu-ray, and on DVD (affiliate).
(Photo credit: A24 Press)