Review of Past Lives

A perfect example of how a film can be poignant without actually being sad. A girl emigrates with her family from Korea to Canada. They are well off creatives, so it's driven by opportunity, not desperation or politics. She's about twelve, and she has a same-age male friend, who she thinks she likes and might marry, but she leaves him behind in Korea. 

Twelve years later they find each other via Facebook, and re-develop the friendship as remote strangers. And twelve years after that he comes to visit, by which time she is married to a Jewish guy (like her, a writer)...and their meeting is poignant, about the lives that they might have had but didn't. 

For me it was emotional...I'm always affected by stories in which the arc of a life becomes visible...but not sad. It's not as if they could now get together, or even as if they would have had better lives if only...but the road not taken is still a visceral, live presence.

Watched via informal distribution and a USB stick in the back of the TV.