Film Review - Eternity
Images courtesy of A24.
The question at the heart of David Freyne’s Eternity is how does one choose to spend an infinite afterlife. It’s existential to think about, and something I hope I don’t ever have to experience - but, if I had to see it play out in front of me, I couldn’t think of a more endearing and heartfelt way to depict it.
Eternity begins by introducing Miles Teller’s Larry and Elizabeth Olsen’s Joan in their old age. They’ve been married for 65 years and we get a brief glimpse into the routine of their relationship - not a lovey-dovey schmooze fest of weightless professions of adoration for each other, but a real, well-worn dynamic within which the two of them can just as easily see the holes in each others arguments as they can feel the joy of just being around one another. Film in general is so concerned with the excitement of love's beginning that we rarely get to experience what makes it last in the long run - and this maturity is where Eternity first had me intrigued.
The film fully earned my attention once these two end up in the film’s preverbal purgatory (aptly named “The Junction”). Here, they have to decide where to rest their souls for all of time, lest they be banished to “The Void” for attempting to leave. This on its own is brilliant conceptually but the cherry on top is that Joan and Larry don’t just have to choose where they wanna go, it's who they want to go with? Enter Joan's first husband, Luke.
Having died long ago, Luke never experienced life with Joan, and she now has to ponder whether or not she wants to live infinitely with what she had at the end, or what she lost in the past. This question lingers throughout the film and it grounds almost everything around it, making the comedically tinged attempts of both men to win Joan's heart maintain a level of gravity. While it is funny to experience their gestures of affection, if you really think about it, these men are fighting for what they perceive as the other part of their soul, and when you view it through that lens the drama increases ten fold.
This is why Eternity is so great. It packs the levity of an early 2000’s romantic comedy within the burden of questions normally reserved for a Terrence Malick film. It’s both intellectually stimulating and heart-warming, so much so that even though I was emotionally satisfied when it ended, I also wanted to discuss the questions it left me with. Would you want to live with your family for all of time? Would you take a second chance with perceived losses of the past? Eternity’s ideas linger when you leave the theatre, and that's a pleasure not many films have left me with this year.
It’s a shame though that despite how fantastic Eternity is, I do believe its third act does hinder how potent its point may be received. Without getting into spoilers, the film’s firmly rooted rules for its universe are tip-toed around in a way which felt sloppy to me, almost diluting the strength of its message surrounding Joan’s “choice”. I do believe the ultimate goal of the third act is strong enough to overcome this hiccup, but I wish that Eternity was as sharp in its final sprint as it was through the rest of the film.
Compounding all the films positives though is a wonderful shot composition, colour grade, and score. Eternity has a warmth which embellishes all the emotions around it, the soundtrack from Superman composer David Fleming bringing a similarly hopeful and emotionally resonant energy to Eternity.
All this to say that Eternity is a must watch. It’s not just a great romantic comedy, but also one which has a perspective that almost none of its genre companions do. You’ll leave simultaneously joyous and sad, with a potential existential crisis in tow.
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Eternity is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.