Past Lives (2023)

After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.

4.5 / 5

INCLUVIE SCORE

4.0 / 5

MOVIE SCORE

Representation

Asian

Anthony Michael

July 8, 2025

4.5 / 5

INCLUVIE SCORE

4 / 5

MOVIE SCORE

Past Lives (2023) – What If Timing Was the Only Thing That Got in the Way

There are movies that fill the screen with sound and motion, and then there are the quiet ones — the kind that lean in gently, unfold slowly, and ask you to pay attention not to the volume, but to the silence. Past Lives is one of those films.

It begins with two kids in Seoul — Nora and Hae Sung — walking side by side like nothing in the world could ever split them apart. But the world does what it always does. Nora’s family emigrates, and just like that, Hae Sung becomes a part of a chapter she has to leave behind. No dramatic farewell. No promises made. Just a space where connection used to be.

What makes this story so intimate is how it lets time pass without rushing to fill the gaps. We meet Nora years later, now a writer in New York, fluent in both English and a version of herself that’s had to adjust. She is smart, composed, and settled — until Hae Sung finds her again. When they reconnect, it’s not an explosion. It’s a question. A soft one. What if?

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Movie Information

After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.

Rating:

Genre:Drama, Romance

Directed By:Celine Song

Written By:Celine Song

In Theaters:6/30/2023

Box Office:$28,126,646

Runtime:106 minutes

Studio:A24, Killer Films, 2AM, CJ ENM