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Past Lives poster

Movies that feel likePast Lives (2023)

After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.

If you loved Past Lives, the closest films we have are 20th Century Girl (2022), The Way He Looks (2014) and Y Tu Mamá También (2001). All three share Past Lives' contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Devdas (2002).

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If Past Lives hit the spot, these will too

20th Century Girl poster
20th Century Girl
2022 · dir. Bang Woo-ri
🍅 86%★ 7.4romance · dramaNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: friendship

In 1999, a teen girl keeps close tabs on a boy in school on behalf of her deeply smitten best friend – then she gets swept up in a love story of her own.

The Way He Looks poster
The Way He Looks
2014 · dir. Daniel Ribeiro
🍅 93%★ 7.9drama · romance

One thread runs through both: friendship

Leonardo is a blind teenager dealing with an overprotective mother while trying to live a more independent life. To the disappointment of his best friend, Giovana, he plans to go on an exchange program abroad. When Gabriel, a new student in town, arrives at their classroom, new feelings blossom in Leonardo making him question his plans.

Y Tu Mamá También poster
Y Tu Mamá También
2001 · dir. Alfonso Cuarón
🍅 90%★ 7.7drama · romance

Both land stillness and romance at once

The difference: 22 years apart, and the 2000s show

In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

Challengers poster
Challengers
2024 · dir. Luca Guadagnino
🍅 88%★ 7drama · romanceParamount+

Common ground: interracial marriage

The difference: Easier on the wistfulness than Past Lives

Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a world-famous Major champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a "Challenger" event — close to the lowest level of pro tournament — where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.

Little Women poster
Little Women
2019 · dir. Greta Gerwig
🍅 95%★ 7.7drama · romanceHulu

The same city underneath both: New York City

Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Flavors of Youth poster
Flavors of Youth
2018 · dir. Joshua
🍅 83%★ 6.6animation · romance · dramaNetflix

The same mix in both: tenderness, then warmth

The difference: Leans harder into animation than Past Lives does

The rigorous city life of China, while bustling and unforgiving, contains the everlasting memories of days past. Three stories told in three different cities, follow the loss of youth and the daunting realization of adulthood. Though reality may seem ever changing, unchangeable are the short-lived moments of one's childhood days. A plentiful bowl of noodles, the beauty of family and the trials of first love endure the inevitable flow of time, as three different characters explore the strength of bonds and the warmth of cherished memories. Within the disorder of the present world, witness these quaint stories recognize the comfort of the past, and attempt to revive the neglected flavors of youth.

Devdas poster
Devdas
2002 · dir. Sanjay Leela Bhansali
★ 7.6drama · romance

Wistful drama, and it commits to that

In 1900s India, Calcuttan zamindar Devdas Mukherjee — unable to marry his lover — takes up alcohol and the company of a courtesan to alleviate the pain.

Blue Is the Warmest Color poster
Blue Is the Warmest Color
2013 · dir. Abdellatif Kechiche
🍅 88%★ 7.6romance · drama

Romance with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

I Want You poster
I Want You
2012 · dir. Fernando González Molina
★ 6.7drama · romance

Romantic drama in both cases

After two years away, Hache returns to Barcelona seeking a fresh start. Falling for Gin while facing unresolved feelings for Babi, he must confront love, loss, and who he's becoming.

A Walk to Remember poster
A Walk to Remember
2002 · dir. Adam Shankman
🍅 30%★ 7.3drama · romance

Romance built on tenderness, twice over

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.

2046 poster
2046
2004 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 87%★ 7.4drama · science fiction · romance

Both keep coming back to the same thing: nostalgia

Women enter and exit a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years after the author loses the woman he considers his one true love.

Call Me by Your Name poster
Call Me by Your Name
2017 · dir. Luca Guadagnino
🍅 95%★ 7.8romance · dramaNetflix

Both lean on wistfulness more than on drama

In the summer of 1983, a 17-year-old Elio spends his days in his family's villa in Italy. One day Oliver, a graduate student, arrives to assist Elio's father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Past Lives’ defining feeling.