Past Lives Screenplay Book

• A diasporic journey from Seoul to Ontario to New York, reborn as profound sentences that touch the hearts of people around the world
• Filling the void between the 'past lives' left behind and the 'present lives' we have built with the beautiful concept of 'In-Yun'
• The delicate brushstrokes of a Korean-Canadian writer highly praised by the Academy... turning our parents' sacrifices and our identity into dazzling art

A long-time immigrant once remarked, "For someone living an immigrant life that began after the age of thirty, I sometimes thought that 'identity' is like a 'ghost'." They explained that there are moments when it feels as if 'another me'—the person living the life they might have had if they had stayed in Korea, walking a path they never got to take—is speaking to them from behind. They were not alone in feeling this way. Celine Song (Song Ha-young), who immigrated to Markham, Ontario at the age of 12, studied psychology at Queen's University, and is now an internationally acclaimed director and playwright, offered a tender greeting to that ghost through her debut film, Past Lives. And Past Lives: Screenplay Book (2025), a compilation of the script that served as the film's backbone, has returned to us not merely as a scriptbook, but as a mirror reflecting the souls of our Korean diaspora living on Canadian soil.

This book was published as the 13th volume of film studio A24's screenplay collection. Opening the minimalist hardcover featuring art direction by Actual Source, readers are welcomed by a foreword from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, alongside insightful essays by Sloane Crosley and Doreen St. Félix. It also includes a conversation between Celine Song and philosopher Andrew H. Miller. The soft color palette of Past Lives symbolically expresses the film's 'In-Yun' and nostalgia, elevating its artistic and collectible value so that fans can treat the book itself as a piece of art. However, the true core of this book is the philosophical contemplation on 'In-Yun' that Celine Song has painstakingly etched into every letter. The word 'In-Yun', which anyone who has seen the film holds in their heart, becomes printed text in this screenplay book, delivering an even deeper resonance.

The media response has been enthusiastic. Major critics have praised the book as a "masterclass in screenwriting," showering it with five-star reviews. Reviewers note that it "depicts most honestly and emotionally how the shape of love transforms, and how the ghost-like memories of a first love coexist with present life." In particular, the prose of Celine Song—who set a record as the first female director of Korean descent to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay—is acclaimed for perfectly translating the film's quiet beauty into text. This book has evoked deep empathy not only among aspiring screenwriters but also among the many immigrant readers navigating the path between their roots and their present.

The experience of encountering this work as a 'screenplay' rather than a novel or film is extraordinary. As we read the writer's intimate stage directions, previously hidden behind the actors' expressions on screen, we realize that the protagonist Nora's internal conflict is actually our own. The journey of Na-young, who left behind her unrequited love Hae-sung in Seoul and departed for Canada, only to reunite with him in New York as Nora, a successful writer, mirrors the variations in identity experienced by our 1.5 and 2nd generation immigrants. Are we Korean or Canadian? Or are we a knot of 'In-Yun' existing somewhere in between?

Many who read this book likely thought of their parents living in Canada. The first-generation parents who crossed the Pacific in the 1980s and 90s, giving up their stable lives in Korea for their children's education or to experience a wider world. Just like the immigration narrative of Nora's family in the film, our parents also had 'past lives' they left behind in Korea. The years they spent running grocery stores and learning new trades in unfamiliar Canada, having given up the social status and comfort they would have enjoyed had they stayed in Korea to raise their children, were by no means in vain. Through the concept of 'In-Yun' in her screenplay book, Celine Song proves that their sacrifices were, in fact, noble connections that have crossed thousands of years of time.

Through her conversation with philosopher Andrew H. Miller included in the book, the author emphasizes that the paths we did not choose are also crucial parts that make up who we are today. This serves as a tremendously powerful comfort to the Korean immigrant community in Canada. It means we need not feel anxious about forgetting the Korean language or feeling distanced from Korean culture. The new connections we are forming here in Canada today, layered with the past memories we left behind in Korea, have built the unique and irreplaceable being that is 'me'. Just as Lynn Nottage notes in the foreword, Celine Song performs the magic of "turning geographical distance into emotional intimacy."

The reason Past Lives: Screenplay Book is receiving global acclaim lies in its honesty. It neither portrays immigrant life as excessively tragic nor wraps it up too fantastically. Instead, it filters the subtle sense of alienation and longing we feel in our daily lives through the lens of 'In-Yun', elevating it into sublime art. Seeing this proud writer, an alumna of Queen's University in Canada, step onto the Academy red carpet and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world's great masters gives us an indescribable sense of pride. This is because she has shown firsthand that our stories, our unpolished Korean accents, and the unique sentiment of 'In-Yun' that we cherish can become a universal source of emotional resonance for people around the world.

This screenplay book urges us to take pride in ourselves. We are people living in two worlds simultaneously. We are the bridges connecting Korea's past and Canada's present, and the protagonists of countless threads of 'In-Yun' flowing in between. Nora's final tears, as drawn by Celine Song, are not tears of loss, but tears of liberation that can only be shed by one who has fully embraced their past. Second-generation Korean-Canadians reading this book will come to understand through a literary lens why their parents were so obsessed with the word 'In-Yun', and why they wanted us never to forget that we are Korean. Moreover, parents will find solace in seeing how the lives they have built after crossing over to Canada have become the material for such precious art.

The film Past Lives was a box office success, grossing over 40 million dollars worldwide, and her upcoming film Materialists is already highly anticipated. However, this screenplay book, which most purely contains Celine Song's worldview, is the treasure that our immigrant families should display in the most prominent spot on our bookshelves. This book is a tribute to all the 'past lives' we left behind, and at the same time, a blessing for all the new 'In-Yun' we are forging on this land today.

Closing the final chapter, we come to a realization. We are not lost souls, but pioneers writing a new history with thousands of layers of 'In-Yun' engraved in our bodies. The fact that an outstanding artist like Celine Song emerged from the Korean-Canadian community means that the tears and sweat we shed on this land have now become a beautiful river that nourishes the entire world. Our 'In-Yun' will continue, and that journey will shine even more radiantly than the sentences contained in this screenplay. I hope that through this book, all Korean compatriots living in Canada will love their lives more deeply and feel infinite pride in all the paths we have walked. Because our present is the greatest masterpiece, crafted by all of those past lives.