Past Lives

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

This was a tremendous romance movie about childhood friends that part ways as the girl's family moves away from Korea, then reconnect many years later over the internet, than many years after that in real life. The movie is slow, and I enjoyed it all the way through, but the final 40 minutes or so were amazing, with some very real feeling conversation and a final scene that is very static but had my heart racing and a pit in my throat.

I think a huge part of my enjoyment was their internet reconnection, as it reminded me a lot of my long distance relationship with my now wife. The conversation, the awkward glitches, the laptop being held at various angles. Their expressions felt so true to my own experience, even the fact they they are using skype in the era when that was what ruled. The loneliness when the call ends. It was all familiar in a heart breaking way.

Its hard to talk about what I loved about this movie without spoiling parts of the movie, but I loved the dynamic when they finally meet in person. It is mature, and they both know they can't be together, but the longing is so clear, the sense of what might have been in a different life time. It reminded me a lot of Before Sunset, with the conversations and circumstances feeling even more real.

I thought the 2 leads were incredible, the guy who stays home and feels like his life isn't going anywhere, and the girl who is ambitious and moves away, feeling like she left a part of herself back home. There is an interesting immigrant story here, and I am sure someone who understands the language would notice her loss of identity in that as well.

This has shot up my romantic movie ranking (not that there are a ton of movies on the list), and I was very moved by the ending. There is a third main character in the movie that I also thought was amazing, and the dynamic he added was so warm and genuine. It's weird to say this movie felt real, but it I had absolutely no plot quibbles, which is always something that comes up in romance movies. Check this one out on your next date night!