Cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, Callum Turner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, John Early
Director: David Freyne
Rating: ★★★.5
There’s a wave of nostalgia sweeping through Hollywood — not just in the return of familiar titles from the ‘90s, but in the revival of a certain kind of filmmaking that once defined the era: glossy, high-concept studio romances with emotional stakes as grand as their premises. As audiences welcome back Scream, Clueless, and the romcom sensibility of My Best Friend’s Wedding, there’s also a renewed curiosity for films that blend fantasy with earnest sentiment. That spirit is very much alive in Eternity, David Freyne’s ambitious afterlife love story, which feels like it could have rolled out in front of a packed theatre in 1998. It’s a big swing — sentimental, witty, visually polished — and one that attempts something many filmmakers have recently shied away from: believing wholeheartedly in love.
The movie starts with Larry (Miles Teller), who dies suddenly and finds himself reborn into his youthful self in The Junction — a retro convention-centre-style limbo where the newly dead return to the age they were happiest and must choose an afterlife world to live in forever. With his Afterlife Consultant Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) guiding him through options ranging from Beach World to Queer World to a fully booked Men-Free World, Larry refuses to decide until his wife Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives, dying of cancer back on Earth. But when she reaches The Junction, also restored to youth, she’s greeted not only by Larry but also by her first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died in the Korean War and has been waiting decades for her. With only a week to choose, Joan must decide who she wants to spend eternity with — the passionate love she lost or the imperfect but steady partnership that shaped her life.
The good
David Freyne’s world-building is sharp and inventive, turning bureaucracy and metaphysics into something witty, bright and emotionally loaded. The concept is irresistible — a classic love triangle reframed as an existential dilemma — and the film handles its scale with surprising grace. David blends the polished sentimentality of ‘90s studio romances with the fantastical sweep of ‘40s Hollywood, while filtering it all through a contemporary and gently queer perspective.
The performances anchor the fantasy. Elizabeth captures Joan’s torment with nuance, playing a woman wrestling with identity, longing and exhaustion beneath a youthful exterior. Miles, as always, is quietly moving and unexpectedly charming, portraying the unglamorous husband who suddenly realises eternity isn’t guaranteed. And Callum shines with old-school matinee magnetism, while Randolph and John Early bring comedic sharpness without diluting the emotional stakes.
The bad
The final act doesn’t reach the emotional crescendo it builds toward. The film becomes more enamoured with the complexity of its mechanics than the heartbreak at its centre, and a heavily teased reveal for Randolph lands flat. The repetition surrounding Joan’s indecision slightly slows momentum, softening what probably should have been a devastating punch.
The verdict
Despite its softened landing, Eternity is a rare thing today: a big-hearted, original studio romance that risks sentiment, scale and sincerity. Beautifully imagined, cleverly written and brimming with feeling, it’s an ode to love in all its contradictions — the one we dream about, the one we grow through, and the one that defines us long after life ends. A thoughtful, transporting reminder of a kind of filmmaking we may finally be ready to see again.
