Review - Eternity
Directed by: David Freyne
Written by: Pat Cunnane
Starring: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner
Running Time: 114 Minutes
Rating: 4/5
David Freyne’s Eternity is a delicate magic trick: a high-concept romantic comedy that teeters on the edge of melodrama, yet lands with genuine warmth and emotional heft. In its vision of the afterlife, Eternity asks its audience not only what peace might look like, but also who we would want by our side when forever finally begins.
Freyne’s Eternity begins in a train station - bustling in transit; travellers rushing from one place to the next. Larry (Miles Teller) wakes up and is unaware of where he is, what he’s doing and where he’s headed to. Surrounded by the chaos of the station he is met with the most tragic-but-yet-hilarious realizations - He’s dead. He’s had a mishap and now he’s almost thirty years younger - but with the mind and soul of his older self. He’s in the afterlife. Or whatever kind of hell he imagines this to be.
There are no pearly gates or burning molten doom here. The film imagines a purgatory of transit - a selling stop for the time-share agents of paradise. Brochures aplenty, mischievious afterlife coordinators searching for their next "sale” - the forever future pitches eternal beachfronts, rolling hills or Parisian streets for those departed. It’s a clever and witty world - playful in its tone but deeply profound in implication.
At the centre of it all, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), finds herself torn between two great loves: Larry, her reliable and steady husbands for decades, and Luke (Callum Turner), her first love, a dashing soldier who she had lost early in her life. When the three meet in the transitory afterlife - Joan must make an impossible choice: eternity with the man who first captured her heart, or the man who kept it for a lifetime.
Freyne orchestrates this love triangle with both humor and heartbreak. Teller’s Larry is understated, a portrait of quiet devotion weighed down by the fear of being forgotten. Turner injects Luke with a boyish charm that makes it clear why Joan never stopped longing for him. A life that could have been - but never was. But it is Olsen who elevates the film—her Joan is torn and trembling, capable of both joyous abandon and guttural despair, the kind of role that transforms a typical romantic comedy into a moving meditation on time, love, and memory.
The world of Eternity is populated with supporting delights: Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early nearly steal the film as afterlife “coordinators,” scene-stealing guides whose sales-pitch patter provides comic relief while also underlining the surreal bureaucracy of forever. The screenplay—spry, witty, and surprisingly poignant—balances a playful absurdity with a deep cathartic finale. A whimsical satire of an afterlife fantasy that feels realized, genuine and heartfelt.
Eternity finds itself remarkable in its inventive and creative worldbuilding - a premise that is typical in the rom-com genre - but its unique world and clever cast of characters all work together for a fantastic crowd pleaser. It may seem like your regular rom-com at surface level, but beneath each laugh and twists - Freyne poses a powerful question: how does one love forever? A film about death - is so full of life, Eternity is a sure bet to win over the crowd.
Eternity will have a limited release beginning November 14th, 2025 before a wide release on November 26th, 2025.
