Best Picture Oscar nominee arrives on Netflix UK

‘Past Lives’ has been nominated for two Oscars and three BAFTAs

The Oscar-nominated hit film Past Lives has just been added to Netflix UK.

Korean-Canadian writer and director Celine Song’s debut movie is nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at next month’s Oscars, while its star Teo Yoo is up for Best Actor at the Baftas.

The hugely acclaimed film was released in UK cinemas in September, but now it’s available to watch on Netflix for subscribers in the UK and Ireland.

With mesmerising performances from Russian Doll‘s Greta Lee as well as John Magaro and Teo Yoo, Past Lives follows Nora and Hae Sung, two childhood classmates in South Korea who are torn apart when Nora’s family moves to Canada.

The pair reconnect two decades later over Skype, where they talk for hours. They then meet in New York and hurtle towards romance.

In The Independent’s four-star review of the film, critic Clarisse Loughrey that Past Lives is an “eloquent attempt to understand how our memories can end up turning other people into projection screens for our own, confused desires”.

Read the full review of Past Lives here.

The romantic drama debuted with a perfect 100 per cent score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes when it first premiered back in February 2023, and has retained that high score with 96 per cent almost a year later.

Teo Yoo and Greta Lee in ‘Past Lives’ (© Twenty Years Rights LLC)

Past Lives has also received three Bafta nominations including for Film Not in the English Language and Best Original Screenplay.

Yoo, who plays Hae Sung, also made history by becoming the first Korean actor to be nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the BAFTAs.

Greta Lee, who plays Nora, has said in a recent interview that people sometimes approach her in public with tears in their eyes after watching the film.

“I have really enjoyed the power of making people cry on sight,” she toldThe Guardian. “Once in a while, someone will say: ‘Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to see your face here at this coffee shop,’ with tears starting to well.

“Younger people will say something along the lines of: ‘I just started dating this guy, but I feel like I should break up with him because there’s just this other person I can’t forget about.’”

She continued: “I remember this one older couple who said they went on a walk after they saw the movie and just held hands and cried, talking about reconsidering their lives, and renewing their vows for each other. I think depending on where you are in your life, it hits you differently.”

Past Lives is now streaming on Netflix in the UK and Ireland.