Past Lives
2 Oscar Nominations
Rent/Purchase
After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.
What critics thought
Celine Song's debut is among the most acclaimed films of the 2020s, drawing comparisons to Wong Kar-wai and the French romantic tradition for its emotional restraint and precise, unhurried observation of longing, immigration, and the lives not lived. Critics consistently singled out the film's deliberate smallness — its refusal of melodrama and visual spectacle — as the very thing that makes its emotional impact so quietly devastating.
“The movie's modesty—its intimacy, human scale, humble locations and lack of visual oomph—is one of its strengths. The characters live in homes that are pleasant yet ordinary, the kind that you can imagine hanging out in, the kind you want to hang out in. There are few big, look-at-me details, though you might notice a poster for Jacques Rivette's 1974 classic Céline and Julie Go Boating in Nora's father's home office in Seoul.”
Manohla Dargis·The New York Times
“Past Lives is a glorious date movie, and a movie for every occasion, too. As ever with films like this, there is an auxiliary pleasure in wondering how much of her own past life Song has used. It's a must-see.”
Peter Bradshaw·The Guardian
“The resolution of this low-key love triangle is absolutely devastating, and will have you reflecting on the moments and choices that shaped your own life, even if their importance only became clear in hindsight.”
Matt Singer·ScreenCrush
Genres
Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorCeline Song
StarringGreta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Moon Seung-ah, Leem Seung-min
ComposerDaniel Rossen, Christopher Bear
Past Lives
2 Oscar Nominations
After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.
What critics thought
Celine Song's debut is among the most acclaimed films of the 2020s, drawing comparisons to Wong Kar-wai and the French romantic tradition for its emotional restraint and precise, unhurried observation of longing, immigration, and the lives not lived. Critics consistently singled out the film's deliberate smallness — its refusal of melodrama and visual spectacle — as the very thing that makes its emotional impact so quietly devastating.
“The movie's modesty—its intimacy, human scale, humble locations and lack of visual oomph—is one of its strengths. The characters live in homes that are pleasant yet ordinary, the kind that you can imagine hanging out in, the kind you want to hang out in. There are few big, look-at-me details, though you might notice a poster for Jacques Rivette's 1974 classic Céline and Julie Go Boating in Nora's father's home office in Seoul.”
Manohla Dargis·The New York Times
“Past Lives is a glorious date movie, and a movie for every occasion, too. As ever with films like this, there is an auxiliary pleasure in wondering how much of her own past life Song has used. It's a must-see.”
Peter Bradshaw·The Guardian
“The resolution of this low-key love triangle is absolutely devastating, and will have you reflecting on the moments and choices that shaped your own life, even if their importance only became clear in hindsight.”
Matt Singer·ScreenCrush
Genres
Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorCeline Song
StarringGreta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, Moon Seung-ah, Leem Seung-min
ComposerDaniel Rossen, Christopher Bear
Rent/Purchase