Past Lives

‘A real achievement’ ★★★★ The Guardian

Our love lives are full of ‘what ifs?’ and ‘could have beens’. In her heartbreaking debut film, playwright Celine Song offers a decade-spanning tale of two people who are romantically entangled but cannot find the right moment to connect. Nora (Russian Doll’s Greta Lee) is separated from her school crush Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) when her family emigrate from Korea to the US. As young adults they rekindle a long-distance relationship full of intimacy even across the continents. But as we jump forward in time, life intercedes. Is our love life fate or entirely out of our hands?

Poignant in the extreme and harking back to the great films of thwarted love such as Casablanca and Brief Encounter, Past Lives was the toast of the Sundance Film Festival, and it’s easy to see why. One of the great discoveries of 2023 and matching thoughtful tearjerkers like Aftersun, this is simply one of the year’s best indie releases.