Playwright Celine Song, who received acclaim for the unfortunately timed Endlings in 2020 (it was forced to close just weeks after it opened), has made an extraordinarily accomplished feature debut. Her film, Past Lives, premiered to impassioned applause at this year’s Sundance film festival.
Despite positioning itself as a festival for innovation and independence, Sundance’s films can feel a little mechanical, a tad inauthentic, carbon copies crafted in the shadows of those that have come before. “A Sundance movie” has turned from descriptor to genre.
