AbhiMathews

For anyone that's ever felt the loss of love once hoped, this film captures those feelings to tell a beautiful modern story.

It's easy to see bits of ourselves in each of the characters in their different stages of life - their ambitions, their fears. We feel connected. But connectedness around the world is changing. And "Past Lives" vividly tells how this change manifests in connections between individuals as we go beyond the holes from which we emerge.

I wish there was a way to live all these lives, all these paths one can take. To share what we most hoped. It is not always easy nor possible, and this film is about what happens when one tries.

Everything--the depth in acting, the little discoveries of this nostalgic world, the shared perspectives on loss, the stitching of the past and the present, the portrayals of love in the harshest of times, the comic relief, the seemly music that accompanies--everything just fits. The beautiful cinematography here is simply some of the best I've caught in my lifetime. I rarely feel this compelled to write a such a positive review, but then again, it is rare to be so stirred so deeply.

It's heartbreaking. It's hopeful. It's a story well-told. I haven't felt this moved by a piece of television in a long, long time. I count myself so lucky.

I have to teach myself not to read too much into everything. It comes from too long having to read so much into hardly anything at all. But, at risk of falling to faults of the heart, I must say that this is an exceptional film touching upon the borders between people. Whether it be in relationships or across nations, the maps of our lives tend to be unmarked on our bodies but we long to share that story-to express it-with someone. For how much longer is a day in the dark compared to one in the light? Inevitably, the lamp will eventually go out and we will be left writing in the darkness. And, in the end, all we remember are the ghosts. All we love are the ghosts. But these ghosts of The English Patient will be staying with me for a long time. As a reminder that the answers to "When were you most happy? And when were you least happy?" are not far separated. That, more importantly, they once gave rise to a feeling of being alive. And for that I am grateful to have known it.