Past Lives

In cinemas now

Much has been made of Past Lives, the tender and emotionally resonant debut from Celine Song, which is certainly a film that lingers long after its credits cease to roll. Greta Lee and Teo Yoo take centre stage as estranged childhood friends whose reunion causes both to consider the meaning of their lives, and whether they are fulfilling their intended purpose.

While Lee and Teo make for absorbing screen presences, Past Lives is mostly a declaration of Song’s considerable talents as a writer-director, with her original screenplay managing to simultaneously be both completely relatable and specific to Korean culture and, more specifically, the immigrant experience. With respect to the latter point, the film intriguingly evokes memories of other recent releases Return to Seoul and Joy Ride, as we observe the subtle ways in which Lee’s character is made to feel othered in her adopted home.

Indeed, ‘subtle’ is the word which perhaps best defines Past Live’s impact, with Song and her DP, Shabier Kirchner, creating a world which feels authentically lived-in, one in which the dialogue, events, and character’s appearances never stray from feeling true to life. In that sense, this is one of the year’s most defining films and a short essay on the human condition and the intrinsic, unseen connection between our past and current lives.

Kirchner’s gorgeous 35mm cinematography also makes for an aesthetically rich experience, with Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen’s faint score serving as the perfect accompaniment. Despite being set within the confines of New York and Seoul - two of the planet’s most populous cities - this manages to be an incredibly contained story about two people and how the memories of their sweet childhood bond shape both their vision of the future and acceptance of the present.