Eternity Review

Eternity is a fantasy romantic comedy where a woman is given an impossible choice on how to spend her afterlife.

Larry and Joan Cutler (Barry Primus and Better Buckley) have been a married couple for 65 years. That all ends when Larry dies choking on a pretzel, and he finds himself in The Junction in the form of his younger self (Miles Teller). When Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) dies a week later, she finds Larry and her first husband, Luke (Callum Turner), who had been waiting six decades, unite with her. Joan has a week to choose who she would spend Eternity with.

Eternity is David Freyne’s third feature as a writer/director. It’s the one that has gained Freyne the most attention. The screenplay by Pat Cunnane was on The Black List in 2022. It featured a cast of well-known actors and was distributed by A24. What was delivered was a charming and creative film.

Eternity is comparable to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind since they were both quirky, surreal love stories. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was set in the mindscape, whilst Eternity was set in the railway station of the afterlife. There was a dream-like quality to the world with painted sheets representing day and night cycles, and the sets in the Archive theatre were made from cardboard, making Joan’s memories look like a school play. It was a charming and creative way to work with budgetary limits.

The difference between Eternity and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was the type of love story they were. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was about a woman erasing her memories of an ex-boyfriend and realising how much she loved him. In Eternity, it was about a woman’s choice.

There was also a bit of What Dreams May Come in Eternity. Both were love stories set in the afterlife. In What Dreams May Come, Robin Williams’ character literally went to Hell and back to save his soulmate.

Eternity set out its own rules of the afterlife, where people physically regenerate in the happiest form, hence why there were loads of 10-year-olds roaming around The Junction. People had a week to decide where they would spend their afterlife, and anyone who stayed for longer would have to find a job. A choice of Eternity was final, and if anyone tried to escape, they would be thrown into The Void. So, the stakes were emotionally high.

Larry was the main character since the film was told from his perspective. Larry was shown to be a cranky old man whose introduction was arguing with his wife about where they should go on holiday. Larry was competing against the ultimate love story, since Luke waited a lifetime to reunite with Joan. The people in The Junction were rooting for Luke, especially Ryan (John Early), Joan and Luke’s afterlife coordinator. Yet the picture wasn’t as clear-cut, since Larry did show tenderness with Joan and his family, and Luke’s perfect image slipped when he told Joan to stop talking about her family.

The film had a terrific cast. Teller and Olsen are well-known actors, and they were great at playing an old married couple. Their characters were old people in younger bodies, and they were fantastic playing beyond their years, especially Teller, since there was little difference between his and Primus’ performances. There were also flashbacks, so there were brief moments of playing their characters younger, like when the pair had their first baby.

Turner is a rising star and has recently been seen as a candidate to play James Bond. He was excellent at being the charming man who was friends with everyone in The Junction. Even Larry was friendly to Luke before he discovered Luke’s relationship with Joan. Yet, he wasn’t as perfect as he appeared, and Luke and Larry had a hilarious rivalry.

Finally, there were Da’Vine Joe Randolph and John Early as the afterlife coordinators. They also had a rivalry, and they were sniping at and one-upping each other. Randolph’s Anna was shown to no longer care about her job, but her time with Larry re-ignited her passion.

Eternity was a genuinely funny film. It was witty throughout its runtime, and there were some laugh-out-loud moments. The audience I was with enjoyed the film. A lot of the humour came from the dialogue and relationship between the main characters, but there were some funny side interactions, like when Larry met a kid on the bench, and dark visual gags related to methods of death and reading pamphlets about various afterlives.

Eternity was a sweet, humorous film. It was firing on all cylinders regarding its writing, acting, and direction as it offered a slightly subversive take on the ideal romantic story.