Past Lives hurts. It's sort of like all the movies in the Before Trilogy rolled into one, and if the two people there had first parted ways in childhood. It also made me think about some recent films, like The Worst Person in the World, Return to Seoul, and Aftersun. It's got more in common with the first two than the last of those, but I guess they're all going to form a 2020s Quadrilogy of Sadness in my mind (much more memorable than a Triangle of the same thing).
Maybe Quadrilogy of Longing or Regret is a better name. These are all films that grapple with regrets of the past and uncertainties of the future. They largely centre on young characters, and all demonstrate that cinema is not dead or bankrupt on ideas if filmmakers like the ones behind these are still finding new, interesting, and uncompromising ways to make viewers feel very moved. I do compare Past Lives to those, but I should also say it in no way feels derivative. The emotional and narrative experience it offers is still distinct and undeniably effective.
When it comes to Past Lives, there were just a couple of scenes where I thought the dialogue was laying it on a little thick, but this film's otherwise hard to fault. It has great performances, and a real understated beauty to the visuals that I really loved. Part of me wonders how it would've resonated if I'd seen it at a different age, but I feel like anyone who's in their 20s or 30s and is currently feeling a little vulnerable in life will find this one hits hard - maybe even too hard, because it strikes a nerve and feels raw in the best (and most difficult) way possible.
Maybe Quadrilogy of Longing or Regret is a better name. These are all films that grapple with regrets of the past and uncertainties of the future. They largely centre on young characters, and all demonstrate that cinema is not dead or bankrupt on ideas if filmmakers like the ones behind these are still finding new, interesting, and uncompromising ways to make viewers feel very moved. I do compare Past Lives to those, but I should also say it in no way feels derivative. The emotional and narrative experience it offers is still distinct and undeniably effective.
When it comes to Past Lives, there were just a couple of scenes where I thought the dialogue was laying it on a little thick, but this film's otherwise hard to fault. It has great performances, and a real understated beauty to the visuals that I really loved. Part of me wonders how it would've resonated if I'd seen it at a different age, but I feel like anyone who's in their 20s or 30s and is currently feeling a little vulnerable in life will find this one hits hard - maybe even too hard, because it strikes a nerve and feels raw in the best (and most difficult) way possible.