Past Lives Movie Review

Past Lives (2023)

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Written by: Celine Song
Directed by: Celine Song
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
Nora and Hae Sung, two childhood friends, are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.

Verdict
This is such a beautiful movie, exploring unrequited love. That's something to which everyone can relate. What happened to that childhood crush? With the internet it's easier to find them, but that doesn't make it any easier to have a relationship. Every scene in this movie is packed with emotion and depth as it's clear there's a connection between the characters but time and distance are a hurdle. This suggests that a connection in this life is one step closer to a relationship in the next, and that it may take thousands of chance interactions across thousands of lifetimes to approach something meaningful. It's a tragedy that the characters in this movie will never see it come to fruition, but it's a hopeful thought; nothing is ever lost as it builds to a resolution. That's a wonderful image.
Watch It.

Review
This is a semi-biographical film from writer/director Celine Song. Nora and Hae Sung's adolescent relationship is doomed to fail as her family is leaving Korea. They like each other, but they're children with no control over the future.

Years later they reconnect on Facebook. That  is the way to reconnect and bridge a gap that couldn't previously be crossed. It makes it easier to find the childhood friends and crushes that depart due to various reasons, leaving you wondering what happened. We understand Hae Sung as he probably wondered what might have developed had they grown up together, but he can now find her through the internet and answer that question of how is she doing. There's also this undertone of wondering what could have been if her family hadn't moved away. Nora is living in New York, and Hae Sung just finished mandatory military service.

Teo Yoo plays Hae Sung

This movie explores the question of what if. Facebook is the tool to revisit that question. It's a small movie with an immense emotional impact. You can feel their connection through the video call. That or it's easy to ascribe the feeling of longing, knowing what we know and rooting for them to get together. They start a long distance relationship via video calls. It's clear they're into each other as they're always calling each other and making time for those calls. That raw emotion this captures makes it beautiful. It leaves gaps for us to fill in, imagining their feelings. Nora suggests Hae Sung rent a movie. We don't know how quickly he went to rent it, but we can guess it likely didn't wait long.

Nora wants to take a break, citing the long distance relationship as interfering with her writing, but it's also a distance they can't cross. She wants a person, not a computer screen. The break isn't easy for either of them, but you understand why the relationship isn't working for her despite her claims it's work and not emotional.

Teo Yoo, Greta Lee play Hae Sung, Nora

Nora introduces this concept of In-Yun at a writers' workshop. If two peoples sleeves touch while passing on the street, they must have known each other in a past life. That small interaction is an example of In-Yun. A marriage constitutes the culmination of thousands of instances of In-Yun across thousands of lifetimes. It's a beautiful thought that people are drawn to each other, how big the world is, and the mountains moved to bring two people together. Nothing is lost, it's always building to a conclusion. In-Yun reconciles unrequited love. You attribute a relationship that never was to one more step on the journey to finally dating. A missed opportunity in this life may work out in the next or the one after.

Teo Yoo, Greta Lee, John Magaro play Hae Sung, Nora, Arthur

Nora moves on. I don't blame her. It's easier to have a relationship when both people live in the same city. We can only imagine how Hae Sung feels. He searches for and finds her, developing a connection that unravels. Nora meets someone else, and he's wary of Nora and Hae Sung. She attributes her intense feelings to Hae Seung representing Seoul and her childhood. Her husband is smart enough to know it's more. Hae Sung has been an idea, never manifest physically until the point where he visits Nora in New York. At that point they're both much older and Nora is married.

Nora's husband Arthur (John Magaro) is also a writer, and the story, the journey, between Nora and Hae Sung forces him to wonder if Nora loves him or if their relationship was borne of convenience. He sees the connection, and he doesn't have this backstory with her. The movie also reinforces how quickly time can pass. Twelves years sounds long but watching this movie it passes in an instant. The older you get, the quicker time moves.

Every scene is packed with so much depth, so much unsaid. We feel it because everyone knows unrequited love. Most of us never even come as close as these two. Usually you're infatuated with someone that never even knew you existed. Hae Sung and Nora had an imperfect relationship, but in the next life maybe it will work out.