Past lives

Published: 22/08/2023

One of the most loved films of the year, Celine Song’s Past Lives, landed at EIFF after it’s premiere at Sundance in January. As a film that I have been eager to watch since its premiere, I was apprehensive that the hype around the feature had made my expectations unreasonably high. However, the wave of overwhelming sadness that over took me as the credits rolled proves that Song’s directorial film debut is just as heart crushing as it is said to be.

Perfectly portraying of how longing and romanticising of memories can unfold to something less great than imagined, Past Lives stuns us with the a less than happy ending for, believed to be, soulmates.

With a beautiful poetic screenplay Song manages to connect her audience to the hearts and souls of both leads Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo). The power of Song’s direction and script has a subway poll haunting my dreams, along with a very specific cut that comes as the pair leave each other for the last time.

The mundane elements of life, as it shows the pair living apart on opposite sides of the world, acts a way of relatability that cannot help but make them feel real and not so fictional as the writing and performances by Lee and Yoo make Nora and Hae Sung far from 2 dimensional.

It is a must see feature of the year…

But take your tissues.

Past Lives, dir. Celine Song

UK theatrical release: 25th August

Out on VOD now.

Lara Edwards