By happenstance, the first few Oscar movies I’ve written about post-nominations are all movies that, while excellent, are only nominated in one category. While Past Lives unfortunately isn’t up for very much either, one of its two nominations is for Best Picture. Let’s get into it!
As a child, Na Young moved with her family from South Korea to Canada, leaving behind her childhood sweetheart Hae Sung. Between two time jumps and multiple countries, we follow their lives as adults, reconnecting first over Facebook and later in person. Na Young is now Nora, pursuing playwriting in New York, and Hae Sung is her strongest reminder of home. Is there still a chance for them, or are their lives pulling them too far in opposite directions?
This film has peak contemplative indie vibes: wistful romance mixed with existential questions mixed with gentle humor. It’s hard to get too deep into explanations of the plot, because the descriptions feel inadequate for what’s going on here. It’s a film that takes its time and makes space for you to discover so much in unspoken moments between the characters. The connection between Nora and Hae Sung is at once deeply affecting and tremendously ordinary. When we follow their virtual interactions as 20-somethings, we often see them talking about nothing important or weighty, just everyday details, but they’re given greater significance when we see how much work they put in to maintain it: navigating the time difference, wrestling with spotty signals, Hae Sung Skyping on his morning commute and Nora looking up words to write emails and Facebook messages in Korean.
When they meet again face-to-face as 30-somethings, it’s even more charged, not to mention complicated by the presence of Nora’s husband. Again, much of their conversation isn’t revelatory, but we see how easily they slip into an intimate nonchalance, despite how long it’s been since they’ve seen each other. We see how Nora deals not just with seeing Hae Sung again, but with feelings about herself that get stirred up by his visit: who he is now compared to who she is, what it means to be Korean vs. Korean American, who she might have been if she’d never left.
As for Nora’s husband Arthur, the film continually resists the impulse to go with easy, less inspiring narrative choices. This isn’t just a love triangle. Hae Sung isn’t just The One That Got Away, and Arthur isn’t just a roadblock to Nora’s happy ending. At every turn, the film makes the more complex choice. As I said, the pace is slow, but the quiet resonance between the characters kept me pretty much on the edge of my seat. This would be a good time to mention that writer/director Celine Song—making her feature debut, by the way—garners the film’s other nomination, for Best Original Screenplay.
The acting is uniformly excellent, understated and affecting. I know Greta Lee from supporting roles in The Morning Show and Across the Spider-Verse, but this is my first time seeing her in a leading role. She’s wonderful as Nora, a very controlled woman whose life has taken her far from her origins—with the exception of Hae Sung, she rarely looks back. Teo Yoo, meanwhile, is a great leading man as Hae Sung. As the one who was left behind, he’s perhaps remained more hung up on Nora than she is on him, and he manages to be both down-to-earth and stirringly romantic. And as Arthur, John Magaro brings a different element into the equation. He’s a little uncertain and a little insecure, but even in a scene where he briefly makes Nora’s existential crisis about him, he talks to her about it, expressing what he’s feeling instead of getting jealous or passive aggressive. He doesn’t understand the situation that all three of them are in, but he does recognize how important it is, and that it doesn’t come with easy answers.
Warnings
Language, sexual references, and drinking/smoking.
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