Nora (Greta Lee), the woman at the centre of Past Lives, Celine Song’s vaguely autobiographical tale of scuppered romance, feels completely unknowable. It’s what makes her so mesmerising. She’s Korean-Canadian, having emigrated with her parents when she was 12, but now finds herself, 12 years later, in New York City pursuing a career as a playwright (she oversees an audition at one point, and the monologue being read is from Song’s own 2020 play, Endlings). While reminiscing over the phone with her mother (Ji Hye Yoon), she decides to look up her childhood sweetheart on Facebook – the year is 2010, or so – only to discover that he’s already attempted to make contact with her.
Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) and Nora reconnect over Skype – again, it’s 2010 – and the ease of their conversation borders on the magical. They talk, talk, and talk, and hurtle towards a romance. Then, Nora unexpectedly shuts things down. “I want to commit to my life here,” she argues. Another 12 years pass in an instant, and when Hae Sung turns up in New York, he reunites with a Nora who’s now married (to Arthur, played by John Magaro) and a stranger to the young girl she used to be, when she was known as Na Young.
