In the afterlife, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) must decide between spending eternity with her husband of decades (Miles Teller) or her first love (Callum Turner).
Perhaps three isn’t a crowd, after all. From Challengers to Materialists, the love triangle has truly made its comeback, and David Freyne’s delightful romcom Eternity offers a refreshing twist. In its vivid fantasy world, the choice is more than just picking between two suitors; rather, two husbands, one with whom decades of marriage were shared, the other leaving behind tantalising questions of what could have been.
Right before old Larry (Barry Primus) kicks the bucket, he’s squabbling with his wife Joan (Betty Buckley) on their way to a baby shower — where he meets his untimely end choking on a pretzel. Soon, he wakes up in the afterlife as his younger self (Miles Teller) in the Junction, a halfway point between life and an eternity of your choosing. Freyne and co-writer Patrick Cunnane revel in the world-building possibilities: the Junction has the appearance of both a bustling train station and a corporate conference, where vendors set up shop to market their eternities. There’s Beach World, Marxist World, and — the best joke — Man-Free World, which is at capacity. Despite the sumptuous production design, the Junction feels like a theatrical purgatory, with everything artificial down to the printed drapes that mimic the non-existent sky.
The joy of Eternity is the journey towards its inevitable destination.
A week later, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) also passes away following a battle with cancer. Larry is more than ready to spend forever with his wife, tanning on sandy beaches — but Joan’s dashing first husband Luke (Callum Turner) has also been waiting for her. He died at war just two years into their marriage, and has been biding his time in the hopes of reuniting with her. But Joan can only choose one husband. Luke is classic Hollywood handsome and hopelessly romantic; Larry, meanwhile, has decades of marriage on his side. It’s a question of experience versus potential, which Freyne pores over with a balance of sincerity and heightened humour. “I don’t know how you compete with a memory,” Larry admits, in one of the many sharp observations.
It goes exactly how you’d expect, but for all of its predictability, the joy of Eternity is the journey towards its inevitable destination, and the Matter Of Life And Death-esque world-building is consistently fun. Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early are delightful as a pair of duelling ‘Afterlife Coordinators’, tasked with championing their respective clients for Joan’s affections. Meanwhile, the trio of actors wring out the comedy of playing old souls in young bodies. Olsen in particular is hilarious: able to take on the energy of a schoolgirl giggling in front of her crush, while also embodying the mannerisms and quirks of an old lady. In playing lovers who possess years beyond their appearances, Teller, Olsen and Turner breathe new life into the love triangle, infusing all the regret, longing and joys of old age. Maybe eternity feels like a bit of a stretch, but a couple of hours in the company of these three is a pretty good deal.
It may be a tad predictable, but Eternity skirts the trappings of its romcom tropes by elevating the love triangle to a riveting existential quandary.