We have all encountered individuals in our lives who make such a profound impact, that we still feel their presence years after our paths deviate. Some of us are lucky enough to reconnect with these people at some point, and this simultaneous reunion and re-introduction often prove to be quite a powerful experience, especially when it comes to someone who provoked the deepest, most visceral emotions within our souls. This is the foundation of Past Lives, in which Celine Song makes her directorial debut, telling the story of Nora and Hae Sung, who grew up together in the same working-class neighbourhood in South Korea but found their lives deviating when she emigrated to Canada, and he stayed behind. Years later, they find each other by chance, and what starts as a friendly long-distance conversation between old friends eventually flourishes into something much more profound, proving that the feelings that were stirred in their childhood have remained part of them for over two decades, leading to this fateful reunion in which they begin to question everything they have come to hold as unimpeachable truths. It is a solid idea that eventually flourishes into a film that isn’t always entirely sure of what it aims to achieve or how it will go about seeking out organic and meaningful ways to explore these themes, which makes it a somewhat bewildering experience that is never entirely cognisant of what it is capable of doing with otherwise quite intriguing material. I am usually quite reluctant to be too overly critical about debut films since it is always better to assess a slightly larger body of work, but there are a few moments in which this film stumbles in ways that could have easily been avoided, and in both conception and execution, Past Lives feels mostly undercooked in more ways that one, which is why it is difficult to fully embrace this film as much as we may hope since there is a constant feeling that something is missing, which creates a situation where we are constantly being promised something astonishing, but instead find ourselves settling for merely pleasant, which is by no means appropriate for something with this level of potential.

There are always merits to a film like Past Lives, and it certainly doesn’t lack aspects that draw us into this world and capture our attention. This is a solid film with good ideas, which is why it has been noted as being one of the more compelling debuts of the year, a fact that we can’t necessarily debate so much as just accept despite some of the shortcomings that envelope it from time to time. This is a beautifully made film, and Song has a strong eye for detail as a director, her writing is certainly very sharp and has the appropriate balance of wit and pathos, which is a good start for a film like this, which intends to be a steadfast reflection of life as it is, rather than a manufactured depiction of romance. One of the most undeniable merits of this film is that it intends to be as authentic as possible, which is why it has attained a level of acclaim. It exists within a genre that usually falls victim to cliches, and while it does walk along these same boundaries, and perhaps even actively uses a similar generic framework to construct the story. To her credit, Song does manage to create a film that feels deeply romantic, focusing not on the carnal aspect of love (and this film is intentionally lacking in terms of the physical act of love, which it doesn’t avoid, but instead refuses to prioritize), instead focusing on the psychological component of a lifelong relationship, one that may not always be defined as strictly romantic, but still has the same sense of commitment and longing that comes when two people fall in love. The idea of soulmates has been explored for about as long as we have been sentient, and Past Lives does offer some fascinating insights into the conversation, especially when it comes to the process of reconnecting with former lovers or those with whom we felt a strong, lifelong connection, one that we may not have initially understood, but which becomes increasingly more clear as we find ourselves becoming reacquainted with these people, which can be both an intimidating and joyful experience, and one that can essentially change the entire trajectory of our lives, causing us to question our own identities and understanding of the abstract concept of fate.

It’s undeniable that Past Lives has a strong foundation, and the concept behind the film is excellent. The problems begin to emerge when it comes down to building on these ideas and exploring the themes from which the story was formed. The film is undoubtedly constructed from a place of genuine interest in this material, it just feels too overly sentimental in some places, while flippant in others, and it creates an imbalanced, disconcerting atmosphere in which the story lacks cohesion and jumps around too rapidly, and we are therefore unable to ever settle into the narrative, which is a common trait for novice filmmakers, who usually equate inexplicable directorial choices with complexity, one of the fallacies that often creates an atmosphere of slight pretension around independent dramas. Past Lives does very little to move away from these preconceived notions, and its slow pace and refusal to offer any clarity towards its more challenging ideas (which is not done in a way where the ambiguity is an intentional choice, instead it didn’t seem to have a way of explaining some of its plot and instead took the route of leaving it up to the audience’s interpretation), makes this quite a disappointing experience. Even the romance itself feels underdeveloped – we rarely feel the love between these characters, and the film is far too emotionally cold to give us insights into the shifting relationships between the people, the supposed spark between them being almost absent, falling victim to the ambiguities that Song and her cast seem to genuinely think makes the film complex when in reality it barely manages to get to the end without collapsing on its abstract ideas, which are not all that compelling, to begin with, and are never really developed to the point where they become interesting or even all that meaningful.

It is not difficult to imagine that the actors would at least be able to salvage the material and expand on these themes, compensating for the lacklustre screenplay and uneven direction. However, the cast of Past Lives is just as middling as the rest of the film, and it is clear that they pitched their performances to the same level. None of the actors are bad, but they don’t deliver performances that are in any way as compelling as they seem to be on the surface, which is the problem with casting actors who are individually very talented but seemingly don’t have much chemistry, whether emotional or physical. Greta Lee, Teo Yeo and John Magaro are all great actors who have done excellent work in the past, so it isn’t even a matter of calling into question their technical skill or talents, but rather what the director asked them to do, which is primarily the root of the problem with this film. Nothing about Past Lives suggests that we are going to be able to understand their characters or their motivations – these are very internal performances that keep the viewer at a distance, and we are never once allowed access into the minds of these individuals, which is a directorial choice that has worked on occasion, but not in the form of a romantic drama, a genre that has thrived chiefly on creating a sense of intimacy between the audience and the characters. The spark between these people just does not exist, regardless of how much the central trio do to try and elevate the material beyond being a rudimentary attempt at the process of weaving romance with existential philosophy, which is not a combination that works particularly well, especially not in a film that is quite as uneven and often slightly mishapen as this, which is one of the many obstacles that stands in this film’s ways when it comes to actually manifesting most of its original and interesting ideas, which are rendered as mostly inconsequential as a result of the unconvincing chemistry between these actors.

Rarely do I ever look at a directorial debut and view the inexperience of the director as something that warrants legitimate criticism, since it is better to have a film that is slightly rough around the edges that shows promise, as opposed to one that seeks perfection and loses its soul in the process. There is a grit and honesty to Past Lives that is respectable, if not worthy of some kind of celebration, so this more critical view of the film should not be mistaken as a callous lack of interest in what it had to say. Instead, my concern with this film is that it is just not interesting enough to be as compelling as it could have been, which is likely a result of Song being a filmmaker still in the process of finding her voice. When a film has the potential to be exceptional, even settling on being pleasant can feel disappointing, which is exactly the problem we find with this film, which is charming, but not nearly captivating enough to warrant some of its more abstract ideas, since it doesn’t feel capable of following through on any of these themes to the point where there is much of a satisfying resolution. Perhaps this was the point – there is always the possibility that Song didn’t want her characters to have a happy ending, and instead chose to reflect reality as she understood it, which is a respectable decision, but not one that is particularly engaging or interesting when it comes to exploring romance. In short, Past Lives is just not all that interesting to capture our attention, nor smart enough to maintain it for very long – it has some moments of genuine beauty, but these are few and far between, and they mainly feel incidental rather than being intentionally placed by the director, who seemed far more intent on these rambling ideas that are undoubtedly compelling on their own in theory, but never manage to be all that interesting on an artistic level. There is something about this film that feels too aloof for us to fully embrace, and perhaps it takes some level of blind optimism to understand the underlying message, but it ultimately doesn’t prove to be all that engaging, which is the main reason why it feels like such an underwhelming experience and one that could have been far more captivating had it known exactly how to handle some of the trickier material that it inexplicably overlooks or outright ignores.