Past Lives: Touching drama from A24 Studios about two deeply connected childhood friends who were torn apart. 20 years later, they reconnect.
Plot and background
In their childhood, Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) were virtually inseparable as best friends. However, when Nora is 12 years old, her family decides to leave Seoul to emigrate to Toronto. The two friends inevitably lose track of each other until Nora, in her twenties, uses social media to track down and contact her childhood friend. Another 10 years later, Hae Sung finally embarks on a big trip from South Korea to finally visit his childhood friend for a few days in New York. Nora works there as an aspiring playwright and has already been living happily with her husband, author Arthur (John Magaro), for seven years. The reunion of Nora and Hae Sung quickly confronts the two with their deep bond and raises inevitable questions about love, fate and the choices that make up a life.
The official trailer promises a highly emotional cinematic experience:
“Past Lives” – background, cast, theatrical release
New York-based writer Celine Song makes her big-screen debut as director and screenwriter with “Past Lives – In Another Life,” a touching drama that made a successful film premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2023. The emotional story of two close childhood friends who reconnect after two decades is inspired by the director’s personal experiences, albeit presented in a fictionalized and exaggerated form. The title of the film and the overarching question of fate and soul mates refers to a Korean notion of past lives called “in-yun.”
The film stars Greta Lee (“The Morning Show”) and Teo Yoo (“The Woman in the Mist”) as adult friends Nora and Hae Sung, while John Magaro (“Call Jane”) was in front of the camera as Nora’s husband Arthur.
The moving drama opens in theaters here on August 17, 2023.
