This was a really solid romantic drama that doesn't have the typical love story that you might expect. Instead, we get more of a melancholic view of life, love, and destiny. At least that's what Past Lives wants you to take away from it. In my opinion, there were definitely some creative decisions that I'm unsure about. For one, the whole movie is built upon the fact that these two old friends had a meaningful relationship way back when. However the beginning of the film does not really show this for very long or in much detail. We only really get an idea of how much these two care about each other from their interactions in their adult years. I would add that their emotions are also tied to their older selves, but in reality neither of them seemed too eager to really change their current life, instead restricting themselves to simply reliving a relationship from grade school. I do really appreciate the theme of multiple selves, as well as the constant reminders of destiny. The conversations around these are not very pretty, with some ugly revelations and discussions being had about the choices we make in life and who we truly choose to be. By "ugly" I mean they are conversations that may be very real but are not very fun to have, and these are some of the best parts of the film. Some of the other parts that I thought were amazing were some of the slow and silent shots of the surrounding environment. Really makes you think more about your place in life and your relationship to the world, at least it did for me in the context of the film. Pretty solid.