Past Lives - Reviews

...this romantic drama is a masterclass in slow, simmering storytelling. It will stay with you, maybe even into your next life.

Diverging from romances in which lovers are expected to move heaven, earth, and themselves in order to make a moment of love last forever, Past Lives asks us to embrace the changes that come with time.

...this wondrous debut is the finest love story of the year.

This is far too intimate a movie to feel like a play. So much depends on the micro-gestures: furtive glances, bathroom exchanges over toothbrushing, two hands almost touching on a handrail, all practically crackling with electricity.

...unravels as a marvel, cemented in a rare balance of wit and grief beautifully embodied by Magaro and Lee.

...delicately sad romantic drama is a real achievement.

The film’s bittersweet serenity can be intoxicating; this is an uncommonly elegant directorial debut, beautifully shot and edited, with sensitive performances by Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro.

Greta Lee is absolutely miraculous in a fluid and tender love story about a Korean immigrant split between two men and herself.

...a powerful and delicate debut, a beautiful necklace strung with crystalized memories.

A love story of jaw-dropping maturity.

...could battle Oppenheimer at the Oscars. It’s just as explosive.

That mix of nostalgia, love, and remorse makes “Past Lives” so effective and lovely.