What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedPast Lives
Celine Song · Film · 2023
If you loved Past Lives, start with Love Next Door (Yu Je-won, 2024) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 2 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Past Lives across media.
If Past Lives moved you, it is because you understand how the quietest choices define the shape of our entire lives.
Books on the same thread
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin · Book · 2022
Explores: platonic soulmates, creative collaboration, game development.
Like Past Lives, this story explores the enduring, complex bond of platonic soulmates whose lives remain deeply intertwined across decades, even as their personal paths inevitably diverge and evolve.
If He Had Been with Me
Laura Nowlin · Book · 2019
Shares a thread with Past Lives: Missed Connections.
This narrative mirrors the poignant regret found in Past Lives, focusing on the heavy weight of what might have been and the lingering ache of a connection left unfinished.
A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara · Book · 2016
Explores: childhood trauma, enduring friendship, emotional endurance.
For those captivated by the emotional endurance depicted in Past Lives, this novel offers a similarly profound look at how childhood relationships anchor us through the turbulence of adulthood.
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee · Book · 2017
Shares a thread with Past Lives: Cultural Identity.
If the immigrant experience in Past Lives resonated with you, this sweeping saga provides a deeper historical context for the displacement, identity, and resilience inherent in the Korean diaspora.
Series on the same thread
Love Next Door
Yu Je-won · Series · 2024
Shares a thread with Past Lives: Cultural Identity.
This series captures the specific nostalgia and cultural nuance of Past Lives, following childhood friends whose reunion forces them to confront the complicated history they left behind long ago.
Pachinko
Soo Hugh · Series · 2022
Shares a thread with Past Lives: Cultural Identity.
Fans of the immigrant perspective in Past Lives will appreciate this multi-generational story, which thoughtfully examines how cultural identity and family history shape the people we eventually become.
Podcasts on the same thread
Unsent Podcast
Podcast · 2023
Shares a thread with Past Lives: Missed connections.
This podcast echoes the central preoccupation of Past Lives, giving voice to the missed connections and unsaid words that haunt us long after a relationship has reached its end.
This American Life
This American Life · Podcast · 2026
Explores: The human condition, Personal narrative, Social observation.
Much like the cinematic intimacy of Past Lives, these personal narratives capture the small, human moments that reveal the profound and surprising truths hidden within the complexities of life.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Past Lives a story about childhood friends?
Yes, Past Lives follows the relationship between Nora and Hae Sung, who are reunited in New York after being separated for decades. The film explores their connection and the impact of the choices they made throughout their lives.
What themes does Past Lives explore?
Past Lives examines complex notions of destiny, love, and the personal choices that define a life. The narrative focuses on the fateful weekend when Nora and Hae Sung reunite to confront the path their lives have taken since childhood.
Where does the story in Past Lives take place?
The central events of Past Lives occur in New York. This is where Nora and Hae Sung reunite after many years apart to spend a fateful weekend together, reflecting on their past and the nature of their relationship.
How long is the timeline in Past Lives?
Past Lives spans several decades. The story begins with the childhood bond between Nora and Hae Sung and follows their journey through the years until their eventual reunion in New York, where they reflect on how time and distance shaped their lives.