Eternity puts a fun spin on the romantic comedy genre that’s not only endearing, but makes you think about what true love really means.
I don’t typically think about Rom-Coms when the movie studio A24 is mentioned, but that might have to change with Eternity. Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen headline this delightfully fun flick that’s as hilarious as it is heartwarming.
Eternity
Directed By: David Freyne
Written By: Pat Cunnane and David Freyne
Starring: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, John Early
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Eternity puts the focus on Larry Cutler (Miles Teller), an elderly man who passes away and discovers the afterlife isn’t what he expected. When his wife of 65 years, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), soon follows him, it looks like they’ll be able to enjoy their eternity together in whichever way they choose. Things get tricky when Luke (Callum Turner), Joan’s first husband who died when drafted into the Korean war, shows up. He’s been waiting 67 years for her to show up, with the goal of finally getting to enjoy the life together that’d been so cruelly taken from them.
Having only been married a short time before being ripped apart, Joan’s love for Luke never really went away. For his part, Larry feels he’s always been in Luke’s ghostly shadow despite their decades of marriage. As little more than a memory, Luke was something of a “perfect” ideal to which Larry struggled to compete against. That’s not to say Joan didn’t love Larry deeply (it’s evident), but losing a loved one in such a way is definitely different than breaking up with some high school sweetheart.
Anyway, this leaves Joan with in the unenviable position of having to choose which husband she’ll spend eternity with. It’s the ultimate love triangle and worse, she’s only got a week to figure it out (the afterlife has some strict rules on this). Along with the help of some competitive Afterlife Coordinators, Anna and Ryan (Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early), Larry, Joan, and Luke must navigate death, loss, and love.
Since the first trailer, I’ve been eager to see Eternity. The premise alone is something that manages to feel entirely unique, while all too relatable. I mean, what young person hasn’t had such existential thoughts about the afterlife and the person they’re with? Those promises “to find you in Heaven” made when you were young, in love, and didn’t think there could be anything better. Regardless of your belief system, it’s an idea with a lot of storytelling potential.
On paper, Eternity seems to have all the tropes of a traditional romantic comedy. I mean, girl in current relationship reunites with their first/lost love is the foundation of most Hallmark movies! The circumstances and overall setting completely changes the dynamics of it all.
And I LOVE how the film crafts its “world” of the afterlife. It’s a fun take on the idea of what happens when we pass on. Essentially, the afterlife isn’t so different from regular life! You feel, sleep, eat/drink (even get hungover) without the fear of aging or getting sick. Souls arrive at something like a massive train station that serves as a waypoint for the newly deceased. There, with the help of their ACs, they must choose an eternity.
There are caveats, of course. Namely, you can ONLY choose one eternity. There are no tryouts or second chances. Once you pick one, you’re stuck….for eternity. Trying to escape results in getting tossed in the void. Oh, and you only have a week to decide or you end up having to work at the station until you do.
It’s a neat approach and the clever world-building the film utilizes serves as a major source of the humor and tension in the plot. This is still very much a character driven story, however, and the film gives us a trio of great ones who manage to be fun, fleshed out, and engaging in their own ways. What I enjoyed most about Eternity’s approach with the characters is that they’re ALL likeable.
Unlike some other love triangle Rom-Coms where one of the dudes is clearly better than the other or the woman obviously loves one and simply tolerates the other, both of Joan’s choices are good! The dilemma comes down to the fact she, very clearly, loves them both. There are points in the movie where I found myself rooting for both of them, and ultimately think I would have been satisfied with any decision she made. It’s nice to have a movie where no one is a piece of shit and this allows for a lot of great heartwarming moments, as well as emotional ones.
I think that’s a big part of why Eternity works so well. It’s got the typical charm, humor, and heartwarming moments you want/expect out of a romantic comedy, but forces the audience to examine love in unique ways. It explores the nature of love, the way a person can care/feel deeply about more than one person, but in different ways.
In this way, Eternity isn’t a Rom-Com about finding love, so much as it is about exploring the nature of love. Discovering the complete picture of what loving someone truly means and why we value it so much. Is love just about being happy? Is it about sacrifice or longing? The work we have to put into it, in order to be truly compatible, or something in between? These are the questions Eternity forces Joan, and the audience, to reckon with.
About the only issue I have with the film, is it gets a little long in the middle. Two solid hours is pretty lengthy for a rom-com. I can’t say that Eternity necessarily wastes any of that time, but by the time the credits roll, it’s easy to look back and see how there are a few scenes which don’t really impact the characters/plot in any meaningful way. Almost as if there were some ideas for having it being something more along the lines of a series/limited-series where those moments could have been expanded on into something deeper.
These moments didn’t really stand out to me while I was watching, or, at least, there isn’t a specific one thing I can point to as being too long. It remained entertaining and kept me engaged throughout. That said, I distinctly remember hitting a point where I thought, “okay, where are we going here?”
Again, I had a ton of fun following along with these characters and their unique problem. So the problem isn’t necessarily with the film’s running time. The issue is how that extended length makes the plot feel a bit thin. Like the filmmakers felt the need to extend it when trimming 15-20 minutes would have resulted in a tighter all around story/experience.
