‘Past Lives’ Review: An Epic Romantic Masterpiece About the Hypotheticals in Life and Love
Past Lives
PG-13: For some strong language
Runtime: 1 Hour and 46 Minutes
Production Companies: CJ ENM, Killer Films, 2AM
Distributor: A24
Director: Celine Song
Writer: Celine Song
Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Seung Min Yim, Seung Ah Moon
Release Date: June 2, 2023
In Theaters Only
Many of us have met a special someone at one point or another. That person becomes the one who got away. Powers beyond your control will set you apart, but later down the line, those worlds collide once again. Playwright-turned-writer/director Celine Song illustrates this notion in a unique, exemplary drama, Past Lives, about two kindred South Korean sweethearts pulled away as kids, finding their way back to one another through several decades.
In South Korea, 2000: 12-year-olds Na Young (Moon Seung-ah) and Hae Sung (Seung Min Yim) share a thick loving bond. Whenever they’re near one another, they light up like star-crossed lovers. Their innocent romance gets upended when Na Young’s family emigrates from South Korea to Canada. As the two enter adulthood, Na Young changes her name to Nora (Greta Lee) and pursues a playwriting career. Meanwhile, Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) is a military veteran entering college. After two decades, they finally reunite for a fateful week in NYC. Although they’re at separate stages in life—Nora has a loving writer husband (John Magaro)—they discuss whether they were meant to be together in their past lives.
For months, I had peers who attended Sundance sing the praises of Celine Song’s Past Lives, proclaiming how much of a romantic wonder it is. They were right. Despite being Song’s directorial debut, her playwright background comes in clutch through its structure, setting its three acts in three dozen-year time jumps. Act I occurs when they’re 12. Act II happens when they’re 24. Act III places them at 36 years old. She naturally encapsulates the periods in a mesmerizing mix of grounded naturalism and nostalgia.
In the opening minutes, she transports the viewer to Na Young and Hae Sung’s origins in Seoul, going on their first play date at a park. The gorgeous lingering wide shots of them exchanging smiles in silence require a pair of sunglasses with how bright their romantic radiation burns. Even as the date ends with the two holding hands in a parent’s car, napping on each other’s shoulder, Song sends that nostalgic sensation of having butterflies in your stomach around your mutual crush. Already bursting your heart to the nines, she executes the first of many heartbreaks as they share an unceremonious farewell before Na Young emigrates to Canada.
A story like this typically falls into a melancholy camp where the two reconnect and get together, Nicholas Sparks-style. The film recognizes its glaring poignant plight with Nora's white husband, Arthur, pointing out the romantic film potential in a later scene. But once Young and her family emigrates to Canada, Song observes Nora, whose self-fulfilling individuality promoted by emigration contrasts with Hae Sung, whose upbringing stayed in a collectivist society.
In the first 12-year leap (2012), Song illustrates their asymmetrical ideologies with symmetrical attention to their lifestyles. Nora is studying playwrighting in NYC and Hae Sung engineering in Seoul. When they reconnect through the power—and best cinematic representation—of Facebook and Skype, their profound bond hasn't aged a day. Their desires and goals match their respective environments, exhibiting their significant differences. Song's sharp observations are rooted in the authentic immigrant experience where Nora hasn't processed the life she's left behind, crafting a somber study coated in a passionate romance of one who got away.
Greta Lee and Teo Yoo share a palpable chemistry, bringing majestic energy to Song's excellent screenplay. Whether virtually or IRL, they convey their timeless attachment remarkably. Their expressions alone—silent pauses, analyzing each other's faces, gazing into each other's eyes— speak a mouthful. Every scene between them ignites a fire in the heart. Most of their interactions begin with the word, 'Whoa,' sending it back and forth more times than Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. Given how beautifully Song develops their relationship up to that point, that first 'whoa' is enough to send tears down your face.
Teo Yoo carries a blend of vulnerability and fascination, melting in real-time at the sight of Nora and his surroundings when he finally hits NYC. With Hae Sung making all the moves in reconnecting with his sweetheart, Yoo grounds him. Even when something might feel objectively creepy in his pursuit, it never comes across as so.
Greta Lee harbors the heaviest emotional beats and delivers one of the year's finest leading performances. Nora is spirited and carefree, comfortable with her current American lifestyle, and you can't help but feel happy for her when she accomplishes her desires. One example is her husband, Arthur, who is so darn charming.
Damn it, I liked Nora's white-American husband. He's so supportive and sweet. It's also helpful that the effortlessly charming John Magaro (First Cow) portrays him. Thanks to Song's cleverness, Arthur captures the audience's heart by acting mature and aware that he can't compete with Nora and Hae Sung's dynamic but trusts his wife enough to let them catch up when they meet. Once again, any other lesser storyteller would roll around in cliches, but everyone here is an intelligent adult.
While grounded in verismo, the cinematography done by Shabier Kirchner (Skate Kitchen) elevates the film's romantic abilities. Song and Kirchner know the best NYC spots, for the scenes of Nora and Hae Sung on NYC adventures are breathtaking. Whether they’re strolling across Dumbo, riding the ferry, or Nora and her boys going out for pasta in the West Village, Kirchner captures NYC's beauty through gorgeous shots and smooth camera movements. Thank God Nora didn't take Hae Sung to Manhattan, instead giving him the REAL NYC experience.
Celine Song’s Past Lives is a sublime lyrical epic romance, unlike anything I’ve seen before. Underneath its burning romantic exterior lies a complex, symmetrical study of seeking closure with your first love and the childhood you left behind. With exemplary performances by Greta Lee, Teo Woo, and John Magaro, Past Lives is an all-time great that deserves to be seen in this life.
