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The best movie I saw last year was Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun, a debut brimming with the kind of emotional charge that results from a deeply personal story. Past Lives shares that film’s thoughtfulness, so it may come as no surprise that it’s also a semi-autobiographical directorial debut. Celine Song, who emigrated from Korea as a kid, grew up in Canada, and eventually settled in New York, followed a similar path to the film’s protagonist, Nora (Greta Lee). Aftersun centered its story around a father-daughter relationship to explore questions about memory and loss. Past Lives uses a childhood friendship—turned long distance romance—to consider identity, destiny, and the great “what ifs” of our lives. Like Aftersun, the film only works if the two leads can make the central relationship believable. Fortunately, Greta Lee and Teo Yoo are up to the task.
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