‘Eternity’: Elizabeth Olsen Is Caught Between Two Loves in Refreshingly Inventive Afterlife Rom-Com

Alci Rengifo

To truly ponder the possibility of life after death should mean considering a lot of rather inconvenient details. “Eternity” is a romantic comedy that poses a challenge that makes complete sense when pondering the idea of going somewhere else after we expire. It’s a pleasant thought to think some notion of heaven awaits us. The characters in this movie grapple with the fact that one of them has been married twice, and now both husbands want her attention in the beyond. In any discourse of an afterlife it is common to assume we will reunite with past loved ones, even pets. But what about all the pets one accumulates in a lifetime, to say nothing of romances? 

This film is slyer than just its premise and becomes a wonderful vehicle for universal questions about love or the choosing of partners. Director David Freyne, working from a Black List script by Pat Cunnane, opens with an elderly couple, Larry (Miles Teller) and Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), making their way to a family gathering. A sudden, darkly comic moment leads to Larry dropping dead. He then awakens and is restored to youth at the transit station where those who have departed the living get to choose where they wish to spend eternity. The options are endless, offered in catalogs offering worlds without men or tropical paradises. After a certain amount of time, if you haven’t made a decision, then you need to find a job, like the suave bartender Luke (Callum Turner), who Larry befriends. When Joan dies of cancer, Larry prepares to welcome her. It makes more sense to choose eternity with his wife of 65 years. A now younger Joan arrives, but to Larry’s shock, she instantly recognizes Luke. The bartender was her first husband, who died in the Korean War before their marriage could really blossom.

“Eternity” joins movies like “Defending Your Life” or “What Dreams May Come” where the idea of life after death takes on similarities to the hassles regarding choice we already deal with in our mortal coils. It is also undeniably entertaining every step of the way. Freyne directs the material with a warm elegance in the photography by Ruairí O’Brien, making the transit center, which feels like one massive hotel, feel vivid and ethereal. There is no strict religious logic to this place. Anna (a vivacious Da’Vine Joy Randolph), Larry’s “afterlife coordinator,” has no clue if God exists but there are plenty of worlds available to cater to differing religious sensibilities. The setting is a great excuse to play with its ideas without the constraints of the real world. Should Joan spend eternity with a man she already gave 65 years of her earthly time to or finally dive into the passionate romance with Luke that was cut short? Both men also have to deal with the jealousy towards the husband who came before and the one who entered the scene later. 

Cunnane’s screenplay is a sharp romantic comedy that goes deeper than just attempting to make the audience swoon. It poses the eternal questions of what love truly means. Excitement isn’t a permanent part of the package, but there should definitely be some. Yet Larry truly knows Joan because he built an entire life with her, and one that wasn’t that bad by the time they passed away. What follows is a refreshing twist on the plot device of two characters fighting over the same person. There’s great boomer humor all over. Larry has to figure out how to beat out a virtual war hero, even if Korea isn’t as lionized as World War II or even Vietnam in American popular culture. Any detail can help his cause, like Luke having Playboys stashed away or hiding the fact that he dyes his hair. Spending 60-plus years in this place also means Luke probably slept with a few women (apparently carnal desire is still going strong in the afterlife). Where the writing stays smart is in emphasizing that eventually Joan is the one with the right to make a choice, any choice, regarding this situation. In heaven you can at least try really hard to impress, like a hilarious attempt by Larry to surprise Joan with a performance by her idol, Dean Martin.

The cast deliver so well because of the way they play the material with a mature comedic timing. Teller and Turner never resort to slapstick, using genuine frustration and fear to bring out the emotion and humor of their plight. Elizabeth Olsen is also genuinely endearing as Joan, playing her as a woman who deep down always remained independent even when loving Larry in marriage. Visually what these characters endure is captured in some wonderfully inventive moments as well. A low-lit gallery allows visitors to walk through living displays of past memories, embodying the idea that our lives are like an evolving set of stories we experience. Joan met Larry while working as a librarian, but married Luke in a flush of first love. Neither is better or worse. Life is an unpredictable flow. Stories about life after death then play with our human musings about second chances. “Eternity” proceeds to not drop the ball with its conclusion, avoiding many of the easy missteps the plot could have taken. Someone will have to be heartbroken in this particular situation, yet the film still manages to have a feel-good spirit by the end credits. Whether alive or in a potential realm beyond the grave, choices will always haunt us. This is an enjoyable romance about the stress of it all.

“Eternity” releases Nov. 26 in theaters nationwide.