Past Lives: The best film of the year highlights the beauty in ordinary life

In years to come, 2023 will most likely be remembered for the seismic Barbenheimer double-header more than anything. It drew the largest audiences, blew away all competition in terms of media coverage and smashed box office records.

Come awards season in the spring, however, and it will likely be another film pipping Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig’s projects to the major prizes. There can be no arguments if the quiet and unassuming Past Lives dominates at the Oscars – it is a piece of art.

Talk about shining a light on the ordinary, everyday aspects of our lives. Celine Song’s masterpiece quite literally does that at points, with glowing sunsets illuminating the characters as they engage in the most wonderfully normal conversations.

Very rarely is a director able to fully encapsulate the way we actually speak to each other on the big screen. Quentin Tarantino’s dialogue, for instance, is extraordinarily relatable considering the outlandish work he produces, but this movie goes even further.

At times, it is almost frightening how down-to-earth the script is – particularly given the language barriers we in the Western world experience. The Skype calls between lead characters Nora and Hae Sung, for instance, could well have been captured with a covert fly-on-the-wall camera – that’s how naturally they flow.

These exchanges are ultimately what gives Past Lives its heart. Greta Lee and Teo Yoo are not portraying action heroes or anything of the like; they are essentially playing us, the audience. We all go through what they go through – we all have funny quirks that make our lives unique, ups and downs with our love lives, highs and lows with our careers.

We all wonder a little about what might have been, if we had only taken a slightly different path or made a divergent decision in our younger years. Some people struggle to let go of the past like Hae Sung does, while others move on but, like Nora, sometimes yearn for the innocence of childhood. This film portrays these universal experiences absolutely perfectly.

Perfection is no understatement; everything about the movie is impeccable. It is visually stunning, with wonderful cinematography both making it a pleasure to watch and serving a metaphorical purpose. A young Nora and Hae Sung departing at a fork in the road, with one heading for a loftier destination while the other sticks to the same path, is particularly resounding.

The small cast put in some excellent performances, with John Magaro deserving credit for his turn as an insecure but kind-hearted husband to Nora. His role is another example of the extreme realism in Past Lives, with his jealousy unavoidable but his willingness to support his wife admirable.

Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen’s score cannot go without mention either. Some of the piano chords the two compose are downright heartbreaking, adding even more weight to some of the most emotional scenes. See You is a beautiful piece of music which somehow manages to express every feeling we and the characters have gone through during the 106 minute runtime.

Any movie that really wants to transcend its peers needs at least one or two genuinely masterful scenes, and Past Lives gets its moment to shine in the closing seconds. Bracing for departure after a few precious days together following decades apart, Nora and Hae Sung simply stand and stare at each other.

There is no dialogue of any kind for what feels like an eternity. There are subtle movements and facial expressions, non-verbal acting of the absolute highest quality. Without uttering a single word, both actor and actress convey a lifetime of ‘what ifs?’

Finally, before leaving, Hae Sung accepts that Nora is no longer the same little girl he was friends with in Seoul all those years ago. She may look back on that time with great fondness, as her subsequent heart-wrenching breakdown into tears shows, but she has moved on. He learns he has to do the same.

Ultimately, Past Lives is a reminder to us all to treasure the little moments in life. The ordinary things are what make it all worthwhile, and if you’re not careful, they will have passed you by – leaving us stuck in the past, yearning for what might have been.

Celine Song’s movie is a masterpiece, and despite there being bigger films this year, there have been none better.

Rating: ★★★★★