In the midst of commercial cinema’s vilified and predictable takes on the dreaded love triangle, Past Lives by Celine Song and Three of Us by Avinash Arun offer a fresh perspective on the complexities of human relationships. What the two films also encapsulate are uncannily similar storylines that feel like a breath of fresh air for each of their respective film industries. Here are two films that are not in the mainstream, yet they manage to create heart shatteringly beautiful narratives that haunt you long after the end credits have rolled into a blank screen before your eyes. The longer I think about them, the more obsessed I become with sharing just why these films have impacted me so powerfully. As I put pen to paper, I feel deeply moved by the fond remembrance of watching these films for the first time; I could never tire of them. So delicately put together, Past Lives and Three of Us deserve to be immortalized in the halls of cinematic fame, for this is what brilliant, content-driven filmmaking looks like.
Ishika Kundan Bhingarde (Sat,) studied this question.