Past Lives

critic Reviews

, 98% Certified Fresh Tomatometer Score
  • A remarkable debut for writer-director Celine Song, Past Lives uses the bonds between its sensitively sketched central characters to support trenchant observations on the human condition.
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Jonathan RomneyFinancial Times
    Past Lives may be a weepie, but it’s a hyper-sophisticated one.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Mark KermodeObserver (UK)
    Plaudits to the principal cast, who do a miraculous job of portraying inner conflict and ecstasy with the merest tilt of a head, or subtle shift of a shoulder.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Charlotte O'SullivanLondon Evening Standard
    Song finds the political in the personal and avoids seeming indulgent or niche.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Tim RobeyDaily Telegraph (UK)
    The film’s great magic is the way it captures the beauty of lonely cities with a camera that seems to caress their geography.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Linda MarricThe Jewish Chronicle
    It’s barely believable that this is Song’s very first feature. Her film is simply sublime from start to finish.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    David StrattonThe Australian
    It is highly recommended as a touching and always subtle film about old memories, old friendships and contemporary realities.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Ilan PreskovskyChannel24 (South Africa)
    Its greatness doesn't so much immediately grab you by the throat but worms its way into your affections more and more with each passing scene, building and building until it becomes impossible to deny in its note-perfect final act.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    John McDonaldAustralian Financial Review
    Past Lives is notable for what it leaves out. It is a drama of accommodation, a minimalist romance in which the spectre of a grand passion is held tantalisingly at bay.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Farah ChededA Good Movie To Watch
    A sublime, aching meditation on memory and time, practical love and idealistic romance, and all the complex contradictions that exist in between.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Chris WasserSunday Independent (Ireland)
    This gorgeous, life-affirming feature is one of the best I’ve seen this year.
    Read full article