Past Lives was a movie that I remember falling for when I first saw the trailer. It looked like it would emotionally ruin me when I finally saw it and boy did it.
Past Lives follows two childhood friends Hae Sung and Na Young (who goes by Nora Moon) as they grow up and grow apart but find themselves finding their ways in each other’s lives following Nora’s immigration to New York.
Past Lives dives into the themes of relationships in our past lives (Who would’ve thought). It brings up the Korean concept of “in-yeon”, which is if you meet someone even briefly, you also met them in a past life. If you are lovers, it meant that you kept meeting in your past lives. In this story, that idea is devastating, as Hae Sung and Nora both had feelings for each other but their lives never aligned for them to actualize them.
The acting in this movie is just great. At first, I kept thinking “Why do these characters just look at each other, not saying anything to each other”. But then I paid more attention and the amount of emotion that was being portrayed and held back was beautiful. It was clear that after decades apart, they didn’t have the words to put it together but their eyes were doing the communicating.
I liked how the characters were distinct from each other. Nora is super ambitious. She left because “No one won a Nobel Prize in Korea” and is always working to make her writing better. Then there’s Hae Sung who never left South Korea. He talks about himself as ordinary, whether it’s his work, his income, or himself, he just is what he is in his mind. The distinction between them makes it understandable why they never got together, but the way they interacted, you know they wanted to.
I liked this movie a lot because it left a lasting feeling in my stomach. The whole idea that the slightest interaction with someone could mean much more in another lifetime just sits like a rock in my stomach. The idea that this current life could be a past life and in another life, you could be happy with the one that got away is heartbreaking.
Final Thoughts
Maybe I just like being sad, but movies like this are some of my favorites. They always get the strongest emotional response out of me, and I keep coming back for them. Past Lives is the latest in this bucket and I’m so glad I got to see it.
