Past Lives is a deeply moving romantic drama written and directed by Celine Song, based on her own experiences as a Korean immigrant. The film follows Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), two childhood sweethearts in Seoul who are separated when Nora's family emigrates to Canada. Their connection resurfaces through video calls twelve years later, and again when Hae Sung travels to New York City to see Nora, now a playwright married to Arthur (John Magaro).
Set across two decades and multiple continents, the film explores themes of memory, cultural identity, and the paths not taken. Song crafts a narrative that is both intimate and epic in scale, examining what it means to leave one life behind in pursuit of another. The film's title references the Korean concept of in-yeon — the idea that people are connected across many lifetimes — lending a spiritual dimension to an otherwise grounded story.
Past Lives received universal critical acclaim upon its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2023, where it won the Audience Award. The film went on to earn two Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and is widely regarded as one of the finest debut features in recent memory. Greta Lee's nuanced performance anchors the film with extraordinary subtlety and emotional depth.
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Anna Miko enjoys writing more than reading books. But most of all she likes to write movie and series reviews. Being fond of classic cinema, she nevertheless is the author of many research works on contemporary visual arts. She also writes short essays on new movies and series helping others to navigate the world of modern cinema.
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