Eternity
Director: David Freyne
Writer: Patrick Cunnane, David Freyne
Cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, Callum Turner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, John Early, Barry Primus, Betty Buckley, Brandi Alexander, Olga Merediz
Seen on: 12.12.2025

Plot:
When Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) gets to the afterlife, she finds two men waiting for her: Larry (Miles Teller), her husband of 65 years who passed just a week before her, and Luke (Callum Turner), her first husband who died very young and who has been waiting for her for over 65 years. Both men want to spend eternity with her, but Joan can only choose one – and she only has a week to make that decision.

Eternity is cute and often very funny with good performances, but I did hope for a little more in the romance department.

I’m not the greatest fan of love triangles, at least when there is no polyamory option (and this is certainly not a film with that kind of possibilities), but I really liked the idea behind the choice Joan faces here: should she try to experience her unlived life, or should she choose the life she actually lived, with all the scratches and nicks it has from heavy use? Try as we might to live a life without regrets, sometimes fate deals us a shitty hand and makes regrets for us. Of course, it would be tempting to try and make up for them.

The trouble is that the film really doesn’t sell us Joan’s romantic choices. Everybody thinks that Luke is oh so perfect, but I have to say, I find it slightly creepy to wait for somebody for 65 years, expecting them to take up the relationship as if no time had passed at all. And he doesn’t really get much of a personality beyond that. Larry, on the other hand, is the stereotypical “good husband” where good means the absence of any big missteps. He doesn’t cheat, he doesn’t lie, he surely picked up a dishtowel every once in a while, isn’t that enough to prove his love? And when he chooses Joan’s happiness once (1 time ONE TIME) over his own, it is all the redemption that he needs. (There is a part of me that thinks that both men and the movie would have been better if they had been written by a woman who understands what makes men attractive. We probably won’t ever get to know.)

Even if I found the romance accordingly a little tired, I really enjoyed the journey we went on with the film. The catastrophic vision of the after-life (that really doesn’t work world-building wise if you poke at it even in the slightest, so don’t if you want to enjoy the film) gives the film ample opportunity to crack jokes, and is often rather interesting. Da’Vine Joye Randolph and Olga Merediz are great in their supporting roles, and Elizabeth Olsen does all the emotional work to make the film work anyway.

I did laugh a lot and I wasn’t bored for a second. And I did go out wondering about what my own choice would be to spend an eternity – that is certainly a fun thought experiment. While the film had the potential to be more than it was, it was entertaining and sweet – just the right thing for a cozy winter night.

Summarizing: entertaining.