PAST LIVES
IMDb Rating
150K+
IMDb Votes
95%
Rotten Tomatoes
$42.7M
Box Office
Synopsis & Review
Nora and Hae Sung were childhood sweethearts in Seoul before Nora's family emigrated to Canada, cutting off their connection. Twelve years later, they reconnect briefly online before Nora, now building a life and writing career in New York, decides the long-distance rekindling isn't sustainable and pulls away again. Another twelve years pass: Nora (Greta Lee) is now married to Arthur (John Magaro), and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) finally travels to New York to see her in person for one week — forcing all three to sit with the question of what might have been, and what their connection actually means now.
Celine Song's semi-autobiographical debut is remarkable for what it refuses to do: there's no love triangle villain, no dramatic betrayal, no contrived obstacle. Arthur is kind and secure rather than threatened; Hae Sung is wistful rather than possessive; Nora is neither torn between two men nor required to choose a "right" answer. Instead, the film sits patiently in the ache of contemplating a life not lived, using the Korean concept of "inyeon" — the idea that relationships across lifetimes are shaped by accumulated fate — to frame a story about immigration, identity, and the versions of ourselves we leave behind when we move on. It's a quiet, mature film that trusts silence and restraint over big emotional swings, and it announced Song as one of the most exciting new voices in American cinema.
Why Watch This Movie?
One of the Most Assured Directorial Debuts in Years
Celine Song, a playwright making her first feature, earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay — a rare achievement for a first-time filmmaker working with such quiet, restrained material.
A Love Triangle With No Villain
The film deliberately avoids melodrama — Arthur is never framed as an obstacle to root against, and Hae Sung is never a threat to Nora's marriage. That restraint is exactly what makes the film's emotional core hit as hard as it does.
Drawn Directly From Song's Own Life
The story is semi-autobiographical, inspired by a real evening Song spent translating between her Korean childhood friend and her American husband at a New York bar — a moment that became the film's emotional centerpiece.
Cast & Crew
Director / Writer
Celine Song
Studio
A24
Feature Debut
Yes — Song's first film
Nora
Greta Lee
Hae Sung
Teo Yoo
Arthur
John Magaro
Language
English / Korean
Premiere
Sundance Film Festival 2023
Oscar Nominations
Best Picture, Best Screenplay
Official Trailer
© A24 / Killer Films. Trailer embedded via YouTube.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Past Lives based on a true story?
It's semi-autobiographical. Celine Song has said the film's key scene — sitting between her Korean childhood friend and her American husband at a bar, translating for both — really happened to her, and the film's broader emotional arc draws directly from her own experience emigrating from South Korea to Canada as a child.
What does "inyeon" mean?
Inyeon is a Korean concept referencing providence or fate across lifetimes — the idea that even a passing encounter between two people, like brushing shoulders on the street, results from thousands of small connections built up over past lives. The film uses it as a lens for Nora and Hae Sung's relationship, suggesting their bond spans more than just one lifetime's worth of choices.
Does Nora end up leaving her husband?
No — the film is not a will-they-won't-they in the conventional sense. Nora stays with Arthur, and the film's power comes from how it processes grief for a life not lived without turning that grief into a plot mechanism for breaking up her marriage. It's more interested in emotional honesty than romantic resolution.
Did Past Lives win any major awards?
It received two Academy Award nominations — Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay — without a win, alongside five Golden Globe nominations. It was also named one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and is widely regarded as one of the best debut features of the decade so far.
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