Past Lives is bittersweet. Its understated authenticity allows tension to build to cathartic releases before viewers even realize. Heavy weight is conveyed with unsaid words and absent actions. There's thoughtful dialogue, complete characters, meaningful relationships, and internal conflicts. The stunning acting provides sincerity, layers, vulnerability, nonverbals, longing, and restraint. There are themes of space, home, acceptance, awareness, love, fate, rebirth, reality over romanticism, language, and respect. Consequently, the film is highly relatable, nuanced, personal, genuine, and poetic. Ultimately, Past Lives conjures extraordinary emotions out of ordinary moments.
Technically, Past Lives creates more with less. Its direction is potently patient yet minimalist. The gentle imagery uses movement, depth, framing, composition, space, and lighting. Its immersive editing adds a hook, impactful inserts, cityscape motifs, montages, cross cuts, and a lingering pace. The sound maximizes split cuts, ambiance, and silence for deepened intimacy. Its reserved music offers a soft tone before a heightened ending. The production design shapes a pertinent sense of time and place, the cast is wholly authentic and star-making, and the absence of effects suits the grounded experience. Overall, Past Lives is a forceful combination of new, honest, and wise.
Writing: 10/10
Direction: 10/10
Cinematography: 9/10
Acting: 10/10
Editing: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Score/Soundtrack: 9/10
Production Design: 8/10
Casting: 8/10
Effects: 6/10
Overall Score: 8.8/10
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