‘Past Lives’ review: 8 000 lifetimes are not enough to appreciate this film

Up front Past Lives presents as a rom com. Two people separated as children weave in and out of each other’s lives until a fateful trip to New York brings them together once again. What reads as a very fantastic and romantic adventure unfolds as a very grounded, human exploration of the inner war of what could have been with what is. It stays away from the potential melodrama of the situation and instead explores how we find ourselves with, through, and without someone.

The movie opens with Nora’s (Greta Lee) mom explaining “If you leave something behind, you gain something too”. And this movie is Nora’s chance to reconcile who she is, and the life she has with the Nora that Hae-Sung (Teo Yoo) kept crystallized with him. Nora has a wonderful life now, and in another thousand lifetimes, maybe she’ll have one with Hae-Sung too.