There are echoes of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise trilogy in this new American-Korean film by Celine Song. Told partly in flashback, Past Lives is about two childhood friends in Seoul, Na-young and Hae-sung, whose relationship ends when Na-young moves to America, changing her name to Nora and later marrying an American. Years later they reconnect, which evokes a mixture of emotions and the film beautifully develops themes of love, loss, identity and fate. It is a remarkable achievement from a first time director, and the performances by the two leads Greta Lee and Teo Yoo are excellent.

In the Guardian, Peter Bradshaw gave it five stars: “This heart-meltingly romantic and sad movie from Korean-Canadian dramatist and film-maker Celine Song left me wrung out and empty and weirdly euphoric, as if I’d lived through an 18-month affair in the course of an hour and three-quarters. How extraordinary to think that this is Song’s feature debut. It’s delicate, sophisticated and yet also somehow simple, direct… It’s a must-see.”