After decades apart, two childhood sweethearts are reunited for one fateful week in New York as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life. A film by Celine Song, starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro.

The film follows the relationship between Na Young (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), who have known each other since childhood. Na Young tells her mother that she has a crush on her classmate Hae Sung and that she plans to marry him when they grow up. Na Young’s mother arranges a date for them in order to create a happy memory for her daughter before they immigrate from South Korea to Canada. Na Young’s dream is to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Twelve years have passed. Na Young, now known as Nora, is living in New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a playwright. During a phone conversation with her mother, she recalls the boy she had a massive crush on when she was younger. She decides to Google him and is surprised to find his name on her father’s film page (her father is a film director). She discovers that he posted a message a few months ago, saying that he has been looking for her. They finally reconnect on Facebook and video chat via Skype.

However, their romance does not last long, as neither of them is serious enough to fly across continents to meet the other. Nora decides to put their communication on hold in order to focus on her career, which is her top priority. The hiatus has lasted for twelve years.

During the hiatus perioud, Nora meets the charming Jewish writer Arthur Zaturansky (John Magaro) at an artists’ residency. They fall in love and get married. They have been living together for seven years. Meanwhile, Hae Sung also meets his girlfriend. It is later revealed that before Nora got married, she and Arthur traveled to South Korea in the hopes of meeting Hae Sung. However, Hae Sung did not respond to her email, so they missed the opportunity to see him.

Twelve years later, Hae Sung travels to New York City on vacation. It has been twenty-four years since Nora’s family immigrated to Canada, and Hae Sung finally meets Nora in person. They quickly rekindle their connection and learn about what has been going on in each other’s lives. It becomes clear that Hae Sung still has feelings for her, and his New York vacation trip is simply an excuse to see her.

PAST LIVES is a romantic drama written and directed by South Korean-Canadian playwright turned filmmaker Celine Song in her feature directorial debut. Every shot is meticulously composed. Every word, every sentence, is beautifully crafted.Greta Lee and Teo Yoo give brilliant performances, even in the moments of silence. This film is a masterclass in storytelling, demonstrating how the director can transform a simple unfulfilled love story into something authentic and emotionally resonant.

One of my favorite scenes is the one where Arthur and Nora are lying in bed. Arthur tells her how beautiful the story of Nora and Hae Sung is, childhood sweethearts who reconnect twenty years later, only to realize that they were meant to be together, like a plot from a typical romantic comedy. In this scenario, he would be the villain, the evil American husband who stands in the way of destiny. His story is mundane compared to Hae Sung’s, but Nora reassures him that is not how life works.

You dream in a language that I can’t understand. It’s like there’s this whole place inside of you where I can’t go.

The film heavily relies on the Korean concept of 인연 (In-Yeon), which roughly translates to “fate” or “destiny.” However, it is specifically used to describe relationships between people. For example, if two strangers walk by each other on the street and their clothes accidentally brush, this is considered an In-Yeon, and it means that they must have had some kind of connection in a past life. If two people get married, it is believed that there have been 8,000 layers of In-Yeon, over 8,000 lifetimes.

PAST LIVES premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 21 January 2023. The film had a limited theatrical release in the United States on 2 June by A24.