FILM OF THE WEEK: Eternity - Reviewed by Roe McDermott

Eternity is a very sweet afterlife romance that keeps its tone sparkly and sincere, and while it feels somewhat small in emotional scale and a little stretched in pacing, it is kept buoyant by an inventive setting, charming performances, and a visuals that favour storybook polish over metaphysical solemnity.

The tenderness, humour and warmth of Irish director and co-writer David Freyne’s (Dating Amber) style is on full display. The plot begins with Larry (Miles Teller), who dies during a random choking accident, leaving behind his wife of four decades, Joan. Larry finds himself back in his prime 30-something body, in a bright transit hub for the deceased: a place suspended somewhere between a departure terminal and a corporate event space,  staffed by coordinators who help lost souls pick their permanent version of heaven. Larry learns about the seemingly endless varieties of eternity that are available to him: beach paradise, mountain idyll, a non-stop party, a luxurious retreat – whatever you can imagine. There’s no hierarchy, only choice and one ironclad rule: once you select your world, you are not allowed to leave under any circumstances.

Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), Larry’s wife, soon arrives, relieved of a long-term illness, also as her younger self, and relieved to reunite with her sweet, goofy, and slightly annoying husband. Larry is eager for them to pick their paradise, but their reunion is quickly interrupted by the appearance of Luke (Callum Turner), Joan’s first husband, killed long ago at war after only a brief romance together. Luke has spent decades literally postponing paradise waiting faithfully for Joan to join him. Joan now much choose between Larry, the man who loved her for decades, whose bad jokes and irritating habits she knows inside out, and the star-crossed passionate love of her youth, offering her new possibilities and the chance to finally enjoy the love that was taken from them too quickly.

The clever premise touches on ideas of love at different life stages. That first love which burns bright, and the long-term love that becomes routine, worn in quietly like a favourite pair of shoes. Although the film suggests these contrasts, it doesn’t unravel them as much as it gestures toward them, staying charming but not quite digging into the messy emotional revelations that might have made the choice feel nerve-rattling instead of wistful.

Elizabeth Olsen plays Joan with unsettled tenderness, bringing a warm complexity to what could have been a simpler character, making her confusion feel real and her emerging self-determination feel like a personal awakening she chose for herself. Miles Teller keeps Larry sympathetic, bumbling and lightly comic, a man whose love is messy but never mean, recognisable in his yearning and believably flawed in his frustration. Larry’s insecurity round the tall, handsome and mysterious Luke is understandable and played with funny pettiness by Teller. Turner meanwhile, adds a quiet emotional steadiness to his dreamboat, making him soft-spoken and sincere, giving the film’s nostalgia its emotional centre.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph and John Early bounce off each other as two competing afterlife coordinators, turning corporate rivalry into punchy banter, sharp timing and sly absurdity, delivered like they’ve been upselling paradise packages for centuries.

The film looks wonderfully composed, all intentional artifice, rich scenic staging, and a whimsical colour palette that gives Eternity a retro boutique gloss without turning it sterile. It’s a visual world that feels self-aware, polished and surreal, letting the art direction and cinematography do the emotional shading that the script only partially investigates.

It’s impossible not to picture how a filmmaker like Charlie Kaufman or Celine Song might have tunnelled into the duality of youthful passion and lifelong partnership, or explored Joan’s grappling with the idea of being a woman who chooses her own desires after a lifetime of catering to other people’s needs. There’s richness to explore, but Eternity imagines the contrast lightly, keeping it fun instead of forlorn, wistful instead of knotty, breezy instead of bruising. The emotional themes stay soft around the edges even when you can feel the actors yearning for a little more emotional permission under their feet. But from an Irish writing and directing team, the originality, fun and style of the film are wonderful to see.

Despite being slight in depth and slightly too generous in runtime, Eternity stays charming, visually thoughtful, and emotionally kind, and while it could have leaned harder into its emotional stakes, it remains disarmingly likable, a film that is content being all about simple and sincere – whether that feels like your idea of heaven is up to you.

Directed by David Freyne. Written by Pat Cunnane, David Freyne. Cinematography by Ruairí O’Brien.
Starring Miles Teller, Elisabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, John Early, Olga Merediz. 

• In cinemas now. Watch the trailer below: