Review of PAST LIVES: Instilled on Inyeon

 August 30, 2023

As children growing up in Seoul, South Korea, Na Young (Seung Ah-moon) and Hae Sung (Seung Min-yim) were classmates in school, competitors for top honors, and good friends who walked home together everyday. One day, Na Young's parents (Ji Hye Yoon and Choi Won-young) decided to migrate to Toronto, Canada. Her mother told Hae Sung's mother (Min Young-ahn) their plans, as the kids played together at the park.

12 years later, Na Young (Greta Lee) had moved to New York City to work as a playwright, taking on the name of Nora. Her mother told her that Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) had posted on her father's Facebook page that he was trying to get in touch with Na Young. The two friends reconnected via daily online video calls but no one could commit to visiting the other. When Nora took a break to attend a writer's retreat, she met fellow writer Arthur (John Magaro).

This romantic film is the directorial debut of South Korean-Canadian playwright and filmmaker Celine Song. The story began familiarly, two close childhood friends were separated by distance and time. 12 years later, they reconnect and expressed how much they missed each other. By this time, Song has drawn us in to see if their past inyeon (connection) will allow this couple to get back together or not, even if it would take 12 more years for us to know.

The way Song approached her story was very slow burn, and that is not only because it took more than two decades to unfold. The events in each of three segments of their relationship were told in a most restrained and controlled manner. Despite a clear conflict, there were absolutely no moments of heightened emotions, no anger, no melodrama. Even when not much words are said, we feel what they want to say in subtle visual clues Song provides.

There was that chemistry between lead actors Greta Lee and Teo Yoo which made you want to root for Na Young and Hae Sung's friendship to go up the next level. However, John Magaro played unenviable role of the man who, through no fault of his own, stood in their way. Because of the elegantly understated mood Song built up, these actors only had their facial expressions and vocal inflections to reflect the nuances of their characters. 9/10.