Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  What does it mean when you say to your partner, ‘we’re meant to be together’? This sentiment is expressed sometimes in repose, sometimes in the waning of a lost argument, a pitiful despatch of the final life raft. I have my own thoughts on the subject. The more romantic will incline towards the film, Past Lives , written and directed by Celine Song, which explores to some extent whether relationships are destined to persist. Song’s film features Greta Lee as Nora Moon (born Na Young), a playwright who reconnects with the Korean boy, Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) who she last saw in person twenty-four years ago. Nora didn’t ‘leave’ Hae Sung. She was separated from him by her parents who relocated to Toronto; her father is a film director. But you know kids – especially precocious ones. They’ll claim the decisions made by others as their own. Koreans, in line with many nationalities, are known for formality and repressed emotions, the latter released with the lethality of steam from a broke...

Pictured : 'Look Ma, no vapes.' Lucy ( Dakota Johnson ) re-connects with John ( Chris Evans ), her actor-waiter, in a scene from writer-director Celine Song's exploration of dating amongst the cash rich, ' Materialists '. Still courtesy of A24 (US), Stage 6/Sony (UK) ‘I’ve heard every reason to get married. I promise I won’t be shocked by any of them.’ (Lucy Mason, Materialists) Romance isn’t dead, just commodified. We don’t marry for love, rather a mixture of desire, loneliness and wanting to be safe. White weddings, anniversary meals, Valentine Days are all for show. These gestures can make couples more anxious than necessary. The expense, enforced remembrance, purchases that one regrets even as the order is placed online. Romance is as cardboard as the detritus left after one bulk order. The more non-recyclable material we hide in the bin, the more genuinely unhappy we are. One of us might be pleased, the other less so. Celine Song, the writer-director of P...