Past Lives - 2023

 So I'm reviewing an Academy Award nominated film in theaters now (presumably)?  Yea, its not Grindhouse, but I have artistic license here.

I go to Past Lives in a foul mood where I arrive 30 minutes early and sit in the theater, thinking about leaving and just going home several times, Then the movie starts, and at first I'm sorta wondering what this is and where it's going, the first shot is a little odd and the initial set up a tad clunky, but then the movie keeps going.  

Past Lives is an unconventional love story, and more importantly, a universal meditation on life, the unexpected things which occur, the experiences we have we form us and define us, and most importantly, things in our life that don't work.  Expectation, growth, change, maturation, and the lives we choose for oursleves, these things are talked about in the film without a single word of dialogue about them, they are screamed about and cried over and destroyed in rage without a single scene of this happening in the film.  

The plot regards a young boy and girl who are attracted to each other, and go out on a date.  They are Korean, and the girl's family is about to immigrate to Canada, so this short lived romance ends in relative heartbreak.  12 years later, they reconnect on Facebook, begin chatting, and clearly reignite a mutual interest in each other.  Then, 12 years even more since then, them both having moved on and having life changes, they reconnect one more time in a devastating and realistic way.

The realism is this film is what most attracted me to it.  We have been so thoroughly trained to watch movies in a way where we know what's going to happen, what to expect, we even know which line of dialogue is coming next.  When the characters say I love you it is as telegraphed as when they kiss.  We know the rise and fall of their love like the back of our hand; it is foreseen and the music swells and they share a look and we know what is going to happen, and it does, to no one's surprise.

What we don't see is the reality of life, what really happens, which is awkwardness, expressionless silence, a chasm of misunderstanding, unexpressed feelings, disappointment, and undefined emotion making our choices a sheer living hell sometimes and complete bliss others.  This is perhaps the most realistic, close to home movie I have ever seen in my life.

A film which has really changed me, which I am still wrestling with three days later with nary a break in my thoughts whirling about it, this is one of the strongest debuts I've ever seen, one the best films I've seen period.  This is definitely in my top 5 of all time right now.  I highly recommend it.