【We love A24】Past Lives (2023) [M]

Our second A24 film hooray!

At first glance, Past Lives sounds like a love story. Two childhood friends are separated when one emigrates from South Korea to the US. Years later, they reconnect as adults, wondering: What if things had been different?

But this film is not really about romance. It’s about choices, timing, and the people we might have become if life had unfolded another way. It’s about migration, memory, and the quiet ache of growing up and growing apart.

The director, Celine Song, tells this story with honesty and restraint (a no-brainer given it's based on autobiographical elements from Song's life). There are no dramatic speeches or big Hollywood moments—just two people sitting at a table, remembering who they were at 12, and realising how much life has changed them.

It’s the kind of film where nothing much happens on the surface, but underneath, everything is happening.

Awards and Recognition:

• Nominated for 2 Academy Awards (2024):
• Best Picture
• Best Original Screenplay
• Golden Globe Nominations: Best Motion Picture – Drama & Best Screenplay
• Winner: Best Feature – Gotham Awards 2023
• Official Selection: Sundance & Berlin Film Festivals

One reviewer called it "a film about the in-between spaces in life—the roads not taken, the lives not lived." Another described it as "a gentle masterpiece about memory and longing."

This is a great film for anyone who has ever wondered what if? Or for anyone who has moved between countries, languages, or lives, and sometimes feels caught in the space between them.

Come for the film. Stay for the kōrero!

Join us afterward for an open discussion about the film.