Past Lives

Name: Past Lives
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: June 2, 2023
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 94
Cast: Ahn Min-Young, Greta Lee, Ji Hye Yoon, John Magaro, Kiha Chang

2023

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 52 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 71 Ratings

See All

8.3

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

8.3	Your Score
8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 71 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Past Lives

Now Playing: Past Lives

Movie Details & Credits

A24 | Release Date: June 2, 2023 | PG-13

Starring: Ahn Min-Young, Greta Lee, Ji Hye Yoon, John Magaro, Kiha Chang, Moon Seung-ah, Seo Yeon-Woo, Seung Min Yim, Teo Yoo, Won Young Choi

Summary: Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny and love, and the choices that make a life.

Director: Celine Song

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 106 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

NME Alex Flood

Sep 10, 2023

It’s not all wide-eyed insight and romantic misery though. Past Lives is also very, very funny. Read full review

100

Trace Sauveur

Jun 8, 2023

It is not a failed love story, but it is a lost love story, as its characters fall victim to the realities of time and circumstance and are left wondering what may have been if either of those things had been different. Read full review

100

Jan 23, 2023

Past Lives is an exquisitely wistful drama that speaks with an honesty so affectingly crisp it will turn your conceptions of love, identity and fate on their head. Read full review

100

Empire Nick de Semlyen

Sep 5, 2023

A transcendent debut for South Korean-Canadian filmmaker Celine Song, this romantic drama is a masterclass in slow, simmering storytelling. It will stay with you, maybe even into your next life. Read full review

Barry Hertz

Jun 5, 2023

This is a film containing oceans of truth, centuries of longing and vast feelings of open-hearted tenderness. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Jul 17, 2023

The emotions roiling beneath the surface of this seemingly placid drama make watching it an intense and involving experience. Read full review

Alison Willmore

Jun 3, 2023

There’s a disconcerting shrewdness underneath its patina of tastefulness — it’s too calculating to achieve the transcendent almost-romance it strives for but never inhabits. Read full review

SEE ALL 52 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

MaTheMeatloaf

Jun 2, 2023

Past Lives is a little stunner of a film. It really floors you in its final moments but that’s just because everything that’s happened before has been so finely tuned. One of the best debuts in recent memory and easily the best film of the year so far.

7 of 7 users found this helpful70

tri88

Jun 10, 2023

i think good not bad, it really good moment beuatiful tri88 Totally recommend watching it. I loved the screenplay, One of the best debuts in recent memory and easily the best film of the year so far the good video i like that's

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

MarkHReviews

Jul 13, 2023

Writer/Director Celine Song has used her own life story to craft 2023’s best film so far.

Nora is twelve years old and has a crush on her classmate Hae Song. Unfortunately for the burgeoning romance, Nora’s parents have decided to leave Seoul and immigrate to Canada. Twelve years later,Writer/Director Celine Song has used her own life story to craft 2023’s best film so far.

Nora is twelve years old and has a crush on her classmate Hae Song. Unfortunately for the burgeoning romance, Nora’s parents have decided to leave Seoul and immigrate to Canada. Twelve years later, Nora and Hae Song reconnect through the miracle of social media. Their relationship becomes a series of video calls where the sense of connection is palpable. Eventually though, Nora decides that they should stop talking for a while; she wants to focus on career opportunities in her new home town of New York City. Another twelve years later, Hae Song decides to vacation in New York City. It’s an opportunity for him to see a now-married Nora face-to-face for the first time in twenty-four years. It’s all sweet, sad and thoughtful. In the process, this film offers more observations about the human condition than any film in recent memory.

Several elements make this film outstanding. The cast is pitch perfect. As the adult Nora, Greta Lee (“The Morning Show,” “Russian Doll,” Will Aronson’s musical “My Scary Girl”) is mesmerizing. She blends her well-honed comic timing with a sincerity and vulnerability that are irresistible. As Hae Song, Teo Yoo (“Leto,” “Decision to Leave”) is equally impressive. You can often read his emotions without a word having to be spoken. John Magaro (“The Big Short,” “First Cow”) has a smaller but still essential role as Nora’s husband, Arthur. In one of the best film scenes in recent memory, Nora and Hae Song are in a bar speaking in animated Korean while Arthur sits patiently, uncomfortably beside her.

Clearly, this is a film that could have gone in a million different directions. Song deftly uses her story to explore a variety of themes – the nature of relationships, the immigrant experience, the necessary balance between work and relationships, the role of fate (and the Korean concept of “in-yun”). She does it all in an unhurried style that makes “Past Lives” feel similar to Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy. It’s my guess this film will be equally well-loved and critically regarded.

What’s most surprising here is Song’s self-confidence as a first-time filmmaker, given that she has the additional responsibility of being true to her own story. Many of the story elements of “Past Lives” are autobiographical. Song emigrated from Korea to Canada at age 12. She, like Nora, is a playwright. She currently lives in New York City with a husband she met on a writer’s retreat, like her character.

Realizing and respecting the power of her story, Song infuses this film with an unhurried pace that allows real emotions to develop and well-earned insights to come to the surface. Song has the self-confidence to highlight the power of words left unspoken. She uses her technique to convey the insurmountable gulf between two characters who, paradoxically, are standing two feet apart.

Like many of the best films, “Past Lives” will serve as an incentive for self-reflection for many moviegoers. You’ll leave the theater pondering the arc of your own story and the crucial “what-ifs” that have affected your own journey. “Past Lives” is a powerful, evocative experience for any moviegoer with a beating heart.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

Maverick_2023

Sep 8, 2023

Gorgeous film. Filled with emotion. Brilliantly played by all parties. Will definitely be mentioned once awards season arrives.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

HerickDiener

Sep 2, 2023

Há muito tempo não assistia a um filme com diálogos tão dolorosos e pausas silenciosas que machucam o tanto quanto. A dualidade de Celine Song em dirigir e escrever um filme tão sutil e profundo é admirável. Aqueles cinco segundos de volta ao passado na cena final foram de partir o coraçãoHá muito tempo não assistia a um filme com diálogos tão dolorosos e pausas silenciosas que machucam o tanto quanto. A dualidade de Celine Song em dirigir e escrever um filme tão sutil e profundo é admirável. Aqueles cinco segundos de volta ao passado na cena final foram de partir o coração até do maior psicopata que assistir.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

moviemitch96

Jun 26, 2023

Two childhood friends from Korea (Greta Lee and Two Yoo) fall in love with one another, only to be separated when the girl moves to New York to pursue writing. The two lose contact over the course of over two decades, and the woman eventually meets her husband (John Magaro) but finds herselfTwo childhood friends from Korea (Greta Lee and Two Yoo) fall in love with one another, only to be separated when the girl moves to New York to pursue writing. The two lose contact over the course of over two decades, and the woman eventually meets her husband (John Magaro) but finds herself unexpectedly reconnecting with her friend when he visits New York. The two reflect on fate, circumstance, and what might've been had things played out differently in their lives. Written and directed with such a keen eye by Celine Song in her directorial debut, there are so many quiet yet touching moments throughout this beautiful film that made me reflect upon my past and the people and love in my life that has touched or impacted me in various ways or another. The themes of first love, home, chance, happenstance, etc. Are all utilized to great and profound effect here. Storywise, even if I felt as though the film lost its footing a bit in the middle act with its pacing, it still very much moved and impacted me more than a fair amount, with tears being brought to my eyes on more than one occasion. As for the performances, all three of the leads here bring such a sensitive and thoughtful approach to each of their characters, making them feel so genuinely relatable and human in all the best ways. Overall, despite some uncertainty with the pacing at times, this is a film that has a lot to say about love, fate, what was or wasn't meant to be, and why certain people enter our lives.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

Brent_Marchant

Jun 10, 2023

As the son of parents who were childhood sweethearts/soul mates, I tend to be a sucker for movie romances that address this subject. In this case, however, the only “sucker” aspect applies to the money I plunked down to watch this two-hour snoozefest. Writer-director Celine Song’s debutAs the son of parents who were childhood sweethearts/soul mates, I tend to be a sucker for movie romances that address this subject. In this case, however, the only “sucker” aspect applies to the money I plunked down to watch this two-hour snoozefest. Writer-director Celine Song’s debut feature has been praised as a masterful piece of filmmaking and one of the best pictures of 2023, but I heartily beg to disagree. When a pair of young, tightly knit Korean friends, Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), part ways from their native Seoul and are later reunited in New York after a 24-year separation, the reunion of these childhood pals provides them with an opportunity to reflect on what might have been. However, their time together consists mostly of a series of overly bloated pregnant pauses, inane dialogue and missed chances to discuss much of anything meaningful, the kinds of scenes that make even the most patient viewers want to yell “Get on with it already!” These “conversations” come nowhere close to matching their joy of their spirited youthful interactions or the heartfelt, substantive talks that later take place between Nora and her husband, Arthur (John Magaro). The result is, quite frankly, a big fat bore that’s trying to be more than it is but never achieves that outcome. Perhaps the biggest problem with this is the film’s truly sincere but decidedly paper thin narrative that doesn’t have the writing support to bring it all into beautiful full bloom, despite some fine performances, exquisite cinematography and an emotive background score. From this, the director would appear to have a hefty reserve of potential stashed away, at least based on this offering’s stylistic elements, but the substance could use some definite shoring up. Let’s hope her next effort lives up to that.… Expand

1 of 9 users found this helpful18

SEE ALL 25 REVIEWS