The bittersweet fine line of being an immigrant and a thread connecting back to the motherland. ‘Past Lives’ was a surprisingly tender story of love, cultural identity and human connection. It seems to be described as a love story, which it is in some aspects. However, it dives deeper into what love means to Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo).

IMDb synopsis: Two deeply connected childhood friends are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. 20 years later, they are reunited for one fateful week.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The film begins with the expository mise-en-scene of Seoul, South Korea and introduces the two principal characters as 12-year-old students. There is a friendship between Nora (then known as Na Young) and Hae Sung. An innocent crush exists between the two and a playdate is arranged by their respective mothers before Na Young and her family leave for Canada. While Na Young finds the prospect of migrating to the West exciting, Hae Sung has a lingering sadness to him, knowing he will lose a friend.

Life in Canada ensues and 12 years pass. Now going by Nora, she is a writer in New York City and has clearly moved past her life in South Korea. Except, her Korean fluency remains as she speaks to her mother on a call. It’s during this call that Hae Sung’s name is mentioned for the first time in years as Nora recollects her childhood. The only odd part of this conversation is Nora’s forgetting Hae Sung’s name as she wasn’t really young when migrating and had a good friendship with him.

On Facebook, Nora finds Hae Sung and his post searching for her, which had led nowhere due to her name change. But this digital connection between the pair blooms and their days begin to include calling each other over Skype. There is a promising resuming of their connection as they catch up on life and missed time. The contrast of night and day highlights even their dedication to talk despite the different time zones.

One day, Nora announces that she’s heading for a writer’s retreat in Montauk and declares that they should pause their calls for now. The sadness of losing a friend extends to Nora as well this time. But nonetheless, their relationship pauses and for Hae Sung in particular, it’s another grieving process.

Nora’s time at the retreat leads to her meeting Arthur (John Magaro) and Hae Sung’s move to China for further studies leads to a relationship with a girl he meets at a restaurant. Little is shown of Hae Sung and his girlfriend but Nora and Arthur are shown connecting and eventually fall in love.

Another time skip brings the audience to Nora and Arthur, who are now married. While watching, this line of dialogue confirming their marital status was surprising. Perhaps, I expected that Nora wouldn’t be 100% certain about making a serious commitment to Arthur. Not that she would be unfaithful but only to know for sure he is the right man for her. Arthur himself is kind, understanding and clearly loves Nora, also making the effort to learn some Korean. There isn’t any trait to him that suggests he’s a bad husband or the wrong life partner for Nora. This was refreshing because in some films, the female lead is deliberately paired with a questionable individual when she deserves much better. A doomed relationship provides the leeway into her reunion with the man she really loves.

Nora and Arthur don’t fall into this trope. Arthur even has a meta moment as he converses with Nora in bed prior to Hae Sung’s visit. He wonders if he’s the bad white man getting in the way of Nora and Hae Sung’s supposed love story. Nora rejects this idea but Arthur’s worries are still evident once Hae Sung arrives in New York.

The physical reunion between Nora and Hae Sung is slightly awkward but cathartic. The week has the pair time to spend together, including Hae Sung endearingly appreciating the sights of the city. At the very least, this reconnection is meaningful to Nora as Hae Sung has tethered her back to him for good.

This tether, ultimately, has to be platonic. While watching, I felt that Nora in this stage of her life didn’t think too much on the ‘what if?’ of her relationship with Hae Sung. The latter appeared more so, with the awkwardness of Arthur being in their presence and the comfort of speaking in Korean with Nora as potential signs. But he has the dignity to accept that a romantic love isn’t possible. Nora is devoted to Arthur now.

A recurring concept brought up by the characters is ‘인연’ (inyeon), a Buddhist notion of two soulmates’ present life being influenced by several past lives.

Yet, as Hae Sung is set to return to South Korea, he and Nora wait silently for his Uber to arrive. Before getting in, he turns around, calls her name and the film cuts to their childhood selves in Seoul in a similar situation for a brief moment. This scene was endearing and further punches the gut over what could’ve been. Hae Sung’s final question to Nora is if this moment is a past life influencing their relationship in another lifetime, to which she responds with ‘I don’t know’.

After a bittersweet goodbye, the camera tracks Nora walking back to her apartment. Her body sauntering, the scene takes its time for Nora to wallow in her thoughts. Upon reaching her home, Arthur is smoking outside on the steps and she begins crying into his arms. Her final catharsis ensues now that Hae Sung has left. Arthur doesn’t say a word but holds her gently.

For Hae Sung, he seemed to know how he felt about Nora. But for Nora, the ending leaves her in an existential crisis through her tears. What if their past lives had a similar fate that led to this life becoming as it did? It’s a tough idea to ponder on. Nevertheless, I wish the film could’ve touched on the possibility and beauty of platonic love/soulmates because as it stands, that’s what Nora and Hae Sung really have in this lifetime.

Letterboxd rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐