★★★★★

Have you ever wondered what might have been? 

In a cinematic landscape often dominated by predictable narratives, Celine Song’s “Past Lives” breaks away from mainstream filmmaking by focusing on the unsaid instead of the obvious. Moreover, the film guides us not only through the lives of its characters but through our own musings on the could-haves that punctuate our existence.

The film begins with three middle-aged adults sitting in a New York bar in the middle of the night. Two of them are excitedly speaking to each other, while the third sits silently on the edge. With the conversation inaudible, the audience — along with other patrons of the bar — can only observe the odd trio and guess at their relationship. It’s a bold move, to let the unsaid command the narrative, and yet it works effortlessly, drawing us into a world where emotions speak louder than words.

We do not figure out who these three characters are until much later, as the film immediately transports the audience from the bar to a classroom in South Korea. It quickly becomes apparent that two children in the class, Na Young (Seung Ah Moon) and Hae Sung (Seung Min Yim), have a crush on each other. The audience watches as they laugh, flirt and even go on a date supervised by their mothers. 

Yet before their relationship has a chance to bloom, Na Young’s parents decide to move the family abroad to Canada. In a striking scene where Na Young and her sisters must choose Westernized names before they leave South Korea, Na Young becomes Nora. The scene tugs at the threads of nostalgia we all carry, the bittersweet pang of leaving a piece of ourselves behind for the promise of something new. 

As is to be expected living lives in different countries, Nora drifts away from her childhood love, Hae Sung. Before they know it, twelve years have passed, and Nora (now played by Greta Lee) has become an aspiring playwright in New York City. Conversely, Hae Sung (now played by Teo Yoo) remains in Seoul as an engineering student. Nora and Hae Sung reconnect over Facebook and soon rekindle their relationship over Skype. In their heartwarming reconnection, I recognized that certain connections are immune to the test of time or the boundaries of geography.

After months of long distance, neither Nora nor Hae Sung are interested in interrupting their budding careers to reunite, and Nora calls the relationship off. Again they drift apart, and 12 years pass before their lives intersect once more. By the time of their next meeting, Nora has married a writer named Arthur. 

Nora and Hae Sung’s stories are presented in an unbiased way. Neither good guys nor bad guys exist; each character is simply human. Every character’s perspective is shown subtly and without exposition, allowing the viewer to take what they want from each interaction. 

While “Past Lives” is primarily a love story, the film ventures beyond the constraints of a typical Hollywood romance. “Past Lives” is also a story of immigration and leaving the world you once knew behind for the hope of something better. It both calls to and challenges the hidden part in all of us that mourns what once could have been, but is no longer.  

Nora and Hae Sung share an innate connection, one that cannot be suppressed by decades spent in different countries. That connection is seen from their adventures as children to the ease in which they fall back into the Korean language when they reconnect two decades later, thus leaving Nora’s English-speaking husband behind. 

“Past Lives” has moments that will emotionally resonate with any audience, though it may be a different scene for each viewer. There is no specific point in the film that cues when the viewer is supposed to feel a certain way. Yet because every emotion portrayed is so real, the viewer connects and relates to the characters on a deep level, inviting them to reflect on similar moments in their own lives. In these moments, the film is magical — not because of what is happening on screen, but because of what is happening to the viewer.

The heartbreakingly beautiful “Past Lives” speaks to what could have been. Despite the remorse and nostalgia of forgetting a life you once knew, there is also beauty in starting anew. It is as Nora’s mother tells her before their move to Canada: “If you leave something behind, you gain something, too.” Instead of hiding from the pain of our past lives, Celine Song embraces it.