Hellos film fans, Slick Dungeon here! I’m back to review another Oscar nominated film. This time I will be talking about the romantic drama Past Lives which is up for two Oscars this year. There will be some spoilers in this review so if that sort of thing bothers you, get off the video call with your long lost friend, go watch the movie, and come on back here to read the review.

What’s It About?

The movie starts off with someone playing that game where you look at people in a bar or restaurant and try to guess who they are to each other. In this case there is a Korean man and woman and a white man all hanging out together in a bar at 4 am.

We then flash back to 24 years earlier in Seoul, South Korea where a little girl named Na Young and a little boy named Hae Sung are good friends. Na Young is upset because she didn’t get top marks at school that day, for the first time losing to Hae Sung. We find out that Na Young is going to immigrate from South Korea soon and she has to decide what her English name will be. She goes with Nora. Her mother asks her what boys she likes in school and Na Young says she like Hae Sung and that he would marry her if she told him to. They moms of the kids arrange a “date” for the kids who seem to have genuine affection for one another. Na Young leaves fairly abruptly, leaving Hae Sung without his best friend.

We jump to 12 years later and now Na Young, going by Nora is an aspiring playwright. She is accepted into a writer’s residency in Montauk. But before she goes there, she finds out that Hae Sung has reached out to try and reconnect with his old friend. In South Korea, Hae Sung is going to school to study engineering when he gets a message in the middle of the night from Na Young. The two start talking over video calls and begin to reconnect. It’s clear there is still a bit of a spark between the two of them. Just before she has to leave to go to the writer residency, Nora tells Hae Sung they should stop talking because she is finding herself looking up flights to Seoul. Hae Sung is heartbroken over it but agrees. At the residency, Nora meets Arthur who she starts dating. Here she explains the Korean concept of past lives where if you come into contact with someone it means you had a connection to them in a previous life. Those who get married have had thousands of such connections and are paired together in this life. Meanwhile in Seoul, Hae Sung finds a girl to date who seems to be just as heartbroken as he is.

We jump ahead in time once again 12 years to catch up to present day. Nora has been married to Anthony for the last seven years but Hae Sung is coming to New York for the first time. The two plan to meet up and reconnect. Hae Sung is still clearly in love with Nora, although she is married. Hae Sung is on a break from his girlfriend because the circumstances don’t seem quite right for the two of them to get married. Anthony is a bit worried about Nora reconnecting with a childhood sweetheart but he deals with it as well as he can. Nora takes Hae Sung to the Statue of Liberty and hangs out with him for the day. Hae Sung is taken to meet Anthony who has learned a little bit of Korean and he talks to Hae Sung who has learned a little bit of English. We then end up at the bar scene from the beginning and are let in on the conversation that we only observed at the start. Hae Sung is basically asking Nora if she thinks they were something to one another in a past life. They go through some possibilities to the point where it seems they are pretty much ignoring Anthony. It’s clear there is still a connection between Nora and Hae Sung but Nora loves Anthony and plans to stay with him.

The movie ends with Hae Sung getting his Uber to go back to the airport while Nora sees him off. Hae Sung makes one last attempt and asks Nora, “What if this is a past life too?” And they wonder what they will be to each other in the next life. Nora goes back to Anthony and Hae Sung goes back to Seoul.

The film is slow paced, which I usually don’t mind. It’s also clearly on the lower budget end of the spectrum which I never mind. If pacing and budget were the only problems with the film, I would be fine with that but this movie really feels slow for a few reasons. One, there is a nearly twenty minute sequence of people talking to each other on video calls, with all of the, “Hello? Hi? Can you hear me?” awkward silences, and video glitching left in. Second, there are tons of long pauses in everyone’s dialogue which slows things down. Third, while there is some conflict here, it is only, purely emotional conflict, usually an internal struggle within the character that they seem to resolve by themselves. This makes the film feel a little bit pointless.

However, there are definitely themes almost anyone can relate to. Not only does it deal with the experience of immigrating to a new place, it deals with loss, reconnection, and love both unrequited and reciprocated. The personal is the universal so I can see why some people do love this film. Personally, it wasn’t for me but I can understand if someone enjoys it.

I’m not sure it was Oscar worthy as I do think there were better films that were overlooked for this one.

The Awards

Past Lives is up for just two Oscars this year, Best Picture and Writing (Original Screenplay)

Best Picture

There is no chance this film will win Best Picture. It’s not a bad film, but I don’t think it soars into greatness either. Oppenheimer is certain to win over this one. But even if that juggernaut of a film wasn’t in this category, I still don’t think Past Lives would win. It’s just not strong enough filmmaking.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

For writing, Past Lives is up against Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, Maestro, and May December. In this category I think the competition is really between Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers and Maestro. I don’t see a world where Past Lives takes home the trophy but it is written well. It’s just not as well written as a lot of other films this year.

In Conclusion

The acting, soundtrack, cinematography and all the rest of it in this film are fine. The movie is mildly interesting and might be a good watch if you are feeling a bit heartbroken for one reason or another. But, it’s probably one of the weakest of the Best Picture contenders, although it certainly has themes a lot of us can relate to. If you love dramas, don’t mind slow pacing, and enjoy stories of unrequited love, this one may be for you.

Dramatically yours,

Slick Dungeon