Even the afterlife isn’t immune to love triangles in the David Freyne-directed film Eternity.
After dying, Larry (Miles Teller) finds himself in an in-between kind of world named The Junction, where you choose how you spend your eternity. You have options like Smoker’s World, Studio 54 World, Paris Land, and Man Free World. (That last one is at full capacity, so you might have to wait until a spot opens up.)
The point being, whatever you choose in life, you better make sure it’s where you want to be for eternity. Because there are no takebacks, even when your wife Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) also appears in the afterlife and you realize “oh yeah, that classic looking fellow named Luke (Callum Turner) is actually her first love. And they’re reuniting in the afterlife because he waited. Cool, cool, cool.
MORE: Looking for more TIFF coverage? Read our review for Laundry.
This is where the love triangle comes in. And don’t worry, I hate love triangles. But this one in Eternity works because A) all three characters have chemistry, and B) the two love interests love Joan without losing themselves to that love. There’s respect here on a rollercoaster of what-ifs, rekindling old relationships, and forming new ones.
At the heart of Eternity is also an exploration of how love changes you over time. On one hand, you have the man Joan lived her life with, aka Larry. And on the other hand, you have Luke, the man Joan never got to explore life with because he died. She was a different woman both times, a reality we all face because we’re not the same people we were before we found love, before we experienced death, or before a multitude of experiences that define the human experience.
Keeping all of this in mind, you would think Eternity is just a sad film. But it’s not. Eternity is funny, witty, hopeful, and so confident in itself that it takes you on this journey. I cried just as much as I laughed because of how utterly human this felt. And this is coming from someone who has zero husbands, has never been in love, or experienced death. I still understood and connected with A24’s Eternity.
MORE: Love Angelina Jolie? Read our TIFF review for her latest movie Couture!
By the end of Eternity I loved all three of these characters. A lot of that had to do with the acting, with Olsen in particular giving a memorable performance in the same vein as her time as the Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But Olsen, Teller, and Turner were working with a script that was fine-tuned with some of the most fascinating world-building I’ve seen in years and a set design that left me feeling, “Oh, this would make a great stage play.”
I can’t finish this review without talking about the standout performance of Eternity, Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
Randolph’s comedic timing was spot on, she had chemistry with everyone, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a show titled The Junction that centers around her character helping those in the afterlife in the same vein as The Good Place. She just was that good. And shoutout to the costume department, because she looked immaculate, from her blonde wigs to her stylish clothes.
Ultimately, Eternity is an emotionally charged romance that soothed my heart and mind in a way I didn’t even know that I needed. And I left that theater feeling happy, giddy, and grounded in the connections I saw on screen and the ones I’ve felt in my own life with my loved ones. Because love grows and changes as time passes. But it will always remain. Just like it did for Joan, Larry, and Luke.
Eternity explores how love changes you over time.
Eternity is in theaters this November.
