And first-time director Celine Song has created one of these. It's a masterpiece of deeply genuine human emotion. And that masterpiece is Past Lives.

Song's dialogue is understated to the point of risking not creating a connection with the characters. It would not have worked with sub-par actors. But the risk payed off big time-all of these actors are wonderful, allowing their body language and line delivery fill in the gaps with their characters' true psychology.

A simple plot becomes a richly complex story of lost love, sought closure, and found purpose; and it's all due to Celine Song having the proper understanding of when to allow silence to speak.

Yet despite the frequent bouts of silence, not a moment feels wasted. Every shot and sentence is meticulously edited to give us exactly what we need to feel each moment with its full emotional power.

This very well may be the best film of 2023. It's the work of a master storyteller, and it's only her first film.

"If you had never left Seoul, would I have still looked for you? Would we have dated? Broken up? Gotten married? Would we have had kids together?"

Such a touching film, but at the same time, never cloying, because the script and direction from Celine Song were so wonderfully restrained. I liked how it acknowledged the random little things in our lives that all have to add up in a certain way for us to end up with our partner in life, things in retrospect which are kind of mind-boggling, but at the same time, gave a certain nod to the idea of fate, the Buddhist "in-yun" concept of meeting someone again and again in our reincarnations until it reaches the threshold that allows for marriage. The characters were beautifully drawn and didn't devolve into cliches, an example of which was the husband who gave a master class in being understanding and supportive. Beautiful cinematography too. Definitely one to see.

I've always bemoaned how cinema caters now to the children and that there are no adult films. Here is one that treats the audiencem that have the opportunity to watch itm as adults. While it does play like a stage play (most likely because director/writer Celine Strong is a playwriter) it doesn't take away the fact of the ideas within it.

The story is of two Korean kids, who are in love, by their kid standards. They most likely spent years since childhood walking to school and spending countless days together. In the break, it is an unceremonious goodbye. Words escape them as we would want them to express their feelings. You won't get that here. Nora and her family make it to Canada, and finds it difficult to assimilate into her school.

Hae Sung, meanwhile, stays back in Korea to go through the mandatory military service.

12 years past. And now Hae Sung curiously has reached out to Nora. They begin an internet relationship which never crosses over to romantic, but you can feel a deep connection. It's closeness. While Nora has now moved on to New York, Hae Sung is now in college to study engineering.

They spent countless time re-living their lives through the internet, but eventually, Nora realizes this has been holding her back. She makes the difficult decision to stop talking to Hae Sung so they can grow since neither can invest real time together. Hae Sung reluctantly agrees.

Another 12 years past, and we now are the point where Nora is married to another writer. He is an American and, though finds ways to express his love to Nora, there is still a little bit of distance. Since Nora has roots deep in Korea. Hae Sung is a working man now and decides to visit Nora.

The rest of the story is up for you to watch. I will say, it is pretty brutally honest. For anyone who has gone through long distance relationships, loved and lost and then re-connected in some way, what follows in the film may bring up raw feelings. But director Song REALLY wants you to overlook the "what could've been aspect" to the idea that there are just people in life you have a connection with, but never can be with them in a tangible world that we can see now. The spiritual nature/philosophical idea is similar to a metaverse concept. But isn't done in a way like Marvel does. It's about connections and the inarticulate way we cannot understand why we have these people in our lives.

If you are self-aware of your life, you tend to consider these possibilities. Though the movie lingers slowly, the poetic nature of their silence will either calm you or make you frustrated that it hasn't moved faster. This movie is VERY much for grown ups. The themes need you to live a life where many people come through your life in order for you to appreciate what the tone of it ultimately means. There are no answers here. Only solid performances by its two leads, Greta Lee and Teo Yoo. They are fantastic in playing thought processes out.

It's a deep story of love that requires you invest some of your own brain power to enjoy. Feel the ache of love.