PL_20210823_JP_00638.RAF
Courtney Howard // Film Critic
PAST LIVES
Rated PG-13, 1 hour and 46 minutes
Directed by: Celine Song
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
The concept of “the one that got away” is explored in its truest, most tender and honest form in writer-director Celine Song’s PAST LIVES. Through a prismatic portrait of unrequited love, fate, identity and timing, this deft, low-key exploration of a decades-spanning kismet spark between two former classmates who rediscover each other at critical points in their lives acts as a soothing balm and leaves us feeling like a puddle of mushy goo. Anchored by assured, compelling performances from its two leads, the heartrending picture contains a palpable sense of yearning and poignancy.
Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) have been tied together through destiny in this life. But in other universes, perhaps their fated tales would have intertwined far more effortlessly. Flashing back 24 years earlier, their story begins to take shape: Nora and Hae Sung are childhood friends living in South Korea when Nora’s family emigrates to Canada. It’s poor timing, as their crushes on each other had just begun to form. 12 years later, the pair reunite, first reconnecting through Facebook and then again on Skype conversations. And despite the romantic ember that clearly continues to burn, the duo can’t force their divergent lifestyles to properly align without sacrifice.
As the years take each of them down disparate personal paths, Hae Sung with a long-term girlfriend and Nora with author husband Arthur (John Magaro), they often innocently think of each other and what might have been had they not split. However their dynamic changes drastically once Hae Sung finally visits Nora in New York City. The two walk and talk through serene, perfectly lit urban locales, debating what could’ve and maybe should’ve been, not just in this life, but in the multiverse.
Reminiscent but never reductive of Richard Linklater’s BEFORE series, Song adeptly captures the authentic, softly detailed ebbs and flows of conversations and character arcs with relaxed, organic efficiency. Our hearts are placed in a vise grip witnessing Nora and Hae Sung’s journeys and their cautious efforts to be together. It’s captured not solely as a snapshot of their life story, but rather the sum of their lives thus far.
The inevitability of time, place, luck and opportunity are the true villains in this unrequited love story, and not a stereotypical jealous husband standing in the way. This point is even acknowledged by said sounding board/ humbled hubby, who’s rightfully validated for his caring concerns about his unwitting placement in Nora and Hae Sung’s predestined relationship. Song plays this chord, or soft marital discord, with delicate restraint, taking away the sadsack, hurt feelings from being a factor in Nora’s autonomous decision making. The impactful, introspective questions she asks herself – ones most of us have asked ourselves when pondering our own fateful relationships with others and ourselves – keep the focus on her wants and needs as an individual.
Lee gives a tender, vulnerable performance as a woman searching for honesty and truth. She and Yoo share an exceptional, heart-wrenching chemistry on-screen – so much so, they serve to break your heart multiple times during the course of the picture when they can’t manage to make their long-distance romance work. Magaro’s work is filled with grace and verisimilitude. In his capable hands, we feel for the man caught in the middle.
Though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to see the childhood sweethearts run off together, there is a certain satisfaction gained by their conversation about inyeon, a Korean concept of the spiritual tie that binds people through eternity. This meaningful sentiment not only radiates on a deeper level of understanding that the pair share, but also feels consoling to think that, perhaps somewhere else, they are together for the rest of time. And I, for one, would also like to see what that multiverse looks like.
Grade: A
PAST LIVES is now playing in limited release. It opens wide release on June 23.
