Past Lives is a quiet and touching exploration of love, friendship, and the meaning of relationships. It stars Greta Lee as a Korean woman who emigrated as a child of 12 from Korea to Canada. Later she moved to New York City. Her childhood friend Hae Sung comes into her life again and again in different ways. There are some spoilers ahead.

Past Lives was written and directed by Celine Song. It’s a slow and quiet story, basically a three hander with Greta Lee as Nora, Teo Yoo as Hae Sung, and John Magaro as Nora’s husband Arthur.

The story begins in Korea, where Nora and Hae Sung had been childhood friends forever. When her parents took her to Canada, their goodbye was poignant but simply, “Hey.” They loved each other as children. Hae Sung was unable to let go of his affection and love for Nora. After she had been gone about 12 years, he found a way to contact her on Facebook.

They talked many times by Skype, but eventually it became clear that they were both dedicated to staying where they were. Nora was ambitious and did not want to return to Korea. She insisted they stop talking.

Another 12 years went by.

Nora was married to another writer like herself. She loved Arthur and wanted to keep her life as it was in NYC.

Hae Sung was still longing for her. He went to New York to see her. Their reunion was warm and bittersweet. They talked a lot about what they were to each other, and what they might have been. Nora commented to Arthur that Hae Sung was very Korean – she called it Korean Korean. Whereas she was Korean American, a different kind of thing entirely.

Nora introduced Hae Sung to Arthur and they spent a night together. Arthur’s Korean was minimal and Hae Sung’s English was decent but halting and broken. Most of the time Nora and Hae Sung spoke in Korean, leaving Arthur out. It was clear that Hae Sung clung to the idea that they might be together somehow. She cared for him but not in that way. There was conversation about fate and past lives (as in reincarnation) and what the three of them might all mean to each other.

Hae Sung hoped maybe what they were experiencing was already a past life, and their future lives would have them together. It was sweet but sad.

The actors did a lot of the work in the pauses without dialog. Especially the two childhood friends, who spent time just looking at each other, soaking each other up. Greta Lee did a truly amazing job conveying emotion without words. The conversations were boiled down to the bare essentials, yet they still teemed with meaning.

The cinematography was so good, especially the shots of New York City. The locations were awash with beauty. This was Celine Song’s first feature length directing job. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her work.

This film from 2023 is streaming on Paramount+ and Prime Video. I thought it was a beautiful film. If you watch it I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments.