One of my favorite movies of the last decade is Amy Adams’ Arrival. In the movie she plays Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist that is brought in by the United States army to try to figure out how to communicate with extraterrestrials. By the end of the movie she asks Jeremy Renner’s character Ian Donnelly the following question: “If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things?” And I bring this up because I couldn’t stop thinking about this quote after watching Eternal Return starring Naomi Scott and Kit Harington.
Eternal Return had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It tells the story of a young woman named Cass (Scott) who is at this “personal point of emotional invulnerability” when she meets a cartographer named Virgil (Harington). Along with his friend Malcolm (Simon Callow), the trio embark on this journey grounded in possibly traveling back in time to “awaken Cass to love again.”
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Going back to the quote from Arrival, I thought of it while watching Eternal Return because that’s what Cass faces. And again, I don’t want to give too much away because I think this journey is worth it. But Cass is confronted with an opportunity to get back what she lost. Within that opportunity comes an unexpected perspective, her coming to understand her grief, and a powerful moment where she decides whether she is going to stay stuck or live despite knowing what’s to come.
Along the way she also starts to understand the power of memory. Because just because someone is gone doesn’t mean that that love disappears. Or their memory disappears. Their memory lives within you. And if you lock that part of yourself up, that love, you become a walking shell of yourself. You’re not living your life or honoring your loved ones memory by celebrating them for who they were and the good that they brought into your life.
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At Cass’ side is Virgil, played by Harington. And I really love how tender, kind, and supportive these two are of each other. They’re completely different people. She has shut down after tragedy and doesn’t really believe what he’s doing with said maps. But she’s curious. And he nurtures that curiosity without shutting down her skepticism of this possibility of time travel. He also just wants her to be happy. Whether that is with him or someone else, her joy is important to him. And that strikes me as the sign of a good romance because she returns that feeling as well.
I do want to note that Harington’s character reminds me of those kooky mysterious older men that you see in movies that have all this wisdom and great quotable lines. They were once young men. And that’s who Harington is as Virgil in Eternal Return. And while that might be a little off-putting in the beginning, as the movie progresses you can tell how charming he is and how this is perfect romance book material.
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Overall, Eternal Return is an uplifting and sometimes heartbreaking reminder that our memories keep our loved ones alive.
If we’re willing to take a chance, there are those around us that can help us find our way back to ourselves without us losing ourselves in someone new and forgetting the past. And sure, sometimes Eternal Return was a bit cheesy. But sometimes we need that gentleness. Sometimes we need that cheese. Sometimes we need that reminder that there is love, light, and companionship in this world grounded in the simplicity of making sure our loved ones are happy, healing, and loved. And that’s what I saw in Eternal Return.
Eternal Return screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
