"Past Lives" is a film that gently takes your hand and guides you through an intimate, delicate, yet powerfully constructed story about love and time.

A24

Director: Celine Song
Rating: 8/10

Past Lives (2023) delivers an intimate, delicate, and robust directorial debut. It's a directorial debut that's both strong and confident, like a well-crafted love letter to the art of filmmaking.

The film poses an interesting question: What happens if a past love reenters your life when you've already found peace with someone else? It's a compelling thought and the film handles it with a quiet grace, allowing the emotional build-up to simmer perfectly beneath the surface. The movie's style takes a page from Richard Linklater's book, echoing the familiar rhythms of Boyhood and the Before trilogy. It's a narrative that unfolds slowly, giving weight to each moment, each glance, and each word spoken.

From the get-go, the film hooks you. It opens with a tantalizing discussion about Nora's love life. As she gazes directly into the camera, it's as if she's inviting us into her world, leaving us thrilled and eager for what's to come. Past Lives explores themes that hit close to home. It explores the passage of time and the limitations that time and distance impose on love, showcasing how these elements can shape and redefine relationships. It's a film that makes you pause and reflect, evoking emotions from places you didn't know existed.

Performance-wise, the movie is a home run. The leads, especially Greta Lee, are simply incredible. Lee manages to capture the depth of her character, delivering a performance that's as captivating as it is authentic. In terms of character development, the movie treats each character equally, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the narrative. While this may be a bit too complicated for some, it's this intricate character development that makes the film more realistic and engaging.

In conclusion, Past Lives is a slow, poignant, and subtle film. Its slow-burning narrative might come across as pretentious to some, but for those who appreciate this style, it's a beautiful cinematic experience. It's a movie that doesn't rush, taking its time to tell its story, allowing its audience to fully immerse in the journey. And that's what makes it a gem in my book.