As 12 year olds, Na Young (played by Seung Ah Moon) and Hae Sung (Seung Min Yim) are classmates in South Korea. Young’s family decides to immigrate to Canada, breaking apart the budding friendship and developing love interest. Over a decade later, Young (now played by Greta Lee) lives in New York City and has adopted the Americanized name Nora. She goes on Facebook looking for old classmates and stumbles upon a recent message from Sung (now played by Teo Yoo). The two reconnect over Skype and start to rekindle the thwarted love interest from 12 years prior. When they realize they can’t physically be in the same city for well over a year, they agree to save further heartache and separate once again. Fast forward another 12 years and Sung is making the trek to New York City in order to see Young despite her being married to Arthur (John Magaro). The two old friends finally get to spend time together waging an internal battle on whether to act on the chemistry between them.
This is a powerful film. Past Lives forces you to reflect on your own past relationships, past friendships and even past could-have-beens. You feel a joy in your soul when the two main characters awkwardly banter back and forth from a digital distance. Likewise, you feel the frustration and hopelessness when their connection is so poor they can’t see or hear each other.
But the empathy isn’t limited to the two leads. Nora’s husband Arthur is so incredibly honest, forthcoming and vulnerable that he compels you to question “Why don’t I conduct myself like this in my own relationship?”
Make no mistake, you don’t go see Past Lives to be entertained, in the traditional sense. There’s no flash here. But that’s not the point. It’s slow, quiet, has zero excitement on screen and manages to stay in that pocket for the entire 100 minutes. That doesn’t mean it’s boring, however. Far from it. I would actually argue those traits cause the audience to lean in and connect to what the film is trying to tell us about ourselves.
The acting, the story and the insight into the human emotional psyche is astounding. Director Celine Song furthers the emotional punch with glorious artistic direction, framing, symbolism and ambiance. Song’s pacing strikes a perfect balance between allowing the audience time to have all the conversations the film wants you to have with yourself and not missing anything on screen. There’s a scene where Nora suggests Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and while this is no Eternal Sunshine, it’s a triumphant love story in its own right. Put simply, I’m a better human being because I saw it.
JKG SCORE: 8.0
Untitled Film Project 