Eternity’s premise is a simple one. Who would you want to spend the rest of eternity with after you die? For many, the choice is an easy one. But not so in A24’s latest. After choking on a pretzel, the elderly Larry Cutler passes away, only to wake up as a younger version of himself (played by Miles Teller). Larry finds himself at a junction, …
Eternity’s premise is a simple one. Who would you want to spend the rest of eternity with after you die? For many, the choice is an easy one. But not so in A24’s latest.
After choking on a pretzel, the elderly Larry Cutler passes away, only to wake up as a younger version of himself (played by Miles Teller). Larry finds himself at a junction, where people choose where to spend the rest of their eternity. It could be anything really, but the catch is there’s no going back once you go, lest you get banished to the void. Thankfully for him, his terminally ill wife, Joan passes shortly after he does and they reunite…only for Joan (Elisabeth Olsen) to come face to face with her first husband, Luke (Callum Turner), who died during the Korean War a few years into their relationship and has been waiting in the junction for 67 years for her to reunite with him. Now Joan is faced with an impossible task: does she spend the rest of eternity with the husband with whom she shared 65 years of life, or with her first husband, her first love, who was taken away from her far too quickly, thus robbing them of the life they could’ve had together.
Despite the rather grim topic of death and the existential crisis of choice, Eternity is a surprisingly funny movie; I laughed out loud far more than I was expecting to. I think the tone of the movie helped make what could’ve been a rather bleak movie into a rather uplifting and hopeful film, despite the weight that it carries throughout the runtime. Most of the hijinks naturally come between Luke and Larry, who are essentially in competition for the affection of the same person, who is or was married to both men at some point. Both husbands want to spend their eternity with Joan, so they constantly try to outbid one another, often resulting in some cringey tomfoolery.
But despite the tone, the movie is very empathetic and emotional, especially with regard to Joan. Olsen delivers a really solid performance as someone given an impossible choice and has to grapple with the consequences of whatever her choice may be. While her husbands jockey for her favour, she’s in this uncomfortable position, trying to figure out what her happiness is and means and what her outlook on the choice should be. This is a movie that could’ve easily been far too dour and at the same time, far too silly, but ends up being a good balance between the two.
As is the production design, which reminded me a bit of the TVA from the Loki series, using this pastel-inspired 1960s look for the Junction, where most of Eternity takes place. The movie does slow down a bit in the second act, as Joan contemplates which one of her husbands she’ll spend her time with, and the constant drive for affection lasts a bit too long for the film’s runtime. But that’s overall a minor complaint.
All in all, Eternity is a surprisingly funny and touching movie about the meaning of love and connection. It’s got great performances and
