Eternity

David Freyne’s charming afterlife comedy “Eternity” takes a simple premise of a person forced to choose between two prospective suitors and elaborates the concept with clever world-building and emotional relationship dynamics.

It's difficult not to fall in love with all of the characters in the film, and its breezy sense of humor makes Eternity a veritable crowdpleaser.

Eternity is a cute rom-com with a great cast, but it could've used more exploration of its afterlife.

One of the film’s greatest strengths is its refusal to oversimplify the matter and a script that allows Turner, Teller, and Olsen to make their characters more than mere type

One of the pleasures of afterlife movies is the leaps taken visually, but Eternity looks hopelessly mundane. Still, the actors are game, and that’s half the battle.

Unfortunately, much like the light at the end of the tunnel, the thinness of this situational comedy, which continues to hit the same jokes with diminishing returns, becomes glaringly obvious.

It’s Olsen’s emotional frailty that helps pump up a bad movie into a mediocre one.

Beautiful, funny, emotional, romantic film. The attention to detail is worth mentioning - it is everywhere: in the characters’ lines, posters on the walls, brochures, clothes, etc. And overall, the movie has no empty dialogue or throwaway scenes. The acting is great, and the humor works too. The feeling after watching it is like you have just read a good novel.

Has there ever been a movie so undermined by its catastrophic final minutes? The ending is poorly constructed that I was briefly convinced the credits would prove to be a gotcha before the real ending was revealed.

"Eternity" is a charming and wildly entertaining for the most part, but by skirting a conventional narrative to be more creative, the story loses some of its effectiveness in the process. However its fantastic cast brings a soulful and endearing story to life with plenty of gags and creative world-building in between. What happens when love, loss, and eternity collide? "Eternity" takes that big question and spins it into a romantic fantasy comedy about choices that stretch beyond life itself. The premise is irresistible: in the afterlife, everyone gets one week to decide where, and more importantly, with whom, they will spend eternity. For Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), that choice is excruciating. Does she choose Larry (Miles Teller), the man she built her life and family with, or Luke (Callum Turner), her first husband who died tragically in war? The setup promises both comedy and poignancy, and at moments it delivers. What anchors "Eternity" amid its whimsical conceit is the lived-in chemistry between Teller and Olsen. Joan and Larry feel like a couple who have carried both love and resentment through the years, two people who know exactly how to push each other’s buttons because they’ve pushed them a thousand times before. Teller leans into Larry’s everyman exasperation, playing him as a man who masks vulnerability with bluster, while Olsen gives Joan a layered warmth that oscillates between affection, regret, and quiet rebellion. Together, their banter carries an authenticity that grounds the afterlife concept, especially in the quieter scenes where the film pauses and lets us feel the weight of decades spent together. Their dynamic also sharpens the central dilemma: is Joan’s eternity best spent with the man who grew alongside her, through children, compromise, and ordinary routines, or with the memory of a first love untouched by time or disappointment? Teller and Olsen make you feel the pull of both choices, so that Joan’s decision is less about fantasy versus reality than about how we define the meaning of a life shared. Turner injects a romantic ache as the love frozen in time, while John Early, as Joan’s quirky afterlife coordinator, supplies bursts of absurd humor. And whenever Da’Vine Joy Randolph shows up as Larry’s blunt but hilarious guide, the film lights up with much-needed energy. Yet despite its charms, Eternity doesn’t fully earn its runtime. Pat Cunnane’s script has a clever concept, but it strings it out too long, circling the same emotional beats without fully developing them. What could have been a taut, witty exploration of eternal choices becomes baggy, especially in the second act, where pacing sags. Freyne’s direction is gentle and whimsical, leaning into the ethereal visuals of the afterlife with soft light and surreal details. But the tonal balance sometimes slips; it’s never as moving as it wants to be, nor as funny as it could be. Still, the performances keep it afloat, especially Randolph, who provides the film’s sharpest laughs. The film’s inspirations are clear, but more than anything, Eternity feels indebted to Albert Brooks’ "Defending Your Life." Like that classic, it frames the afterlife as a place where choices, regrets, and the meaning of love are placed under a microscope. The difference is that Brooks leaned into sharp satire and philosophical bite, while Eternity often retreats to lighter comedic rhythms when it should dig deeper. It gestures toward profound questions about love, loyalty, and what it truly means to choose someone "forever," but too often smooths them over with whimsy instead of wrestling with their weight. Ultimately, "Eternity" is a film with a great idea, a strong cast, and a handful of lovely moments. But like its characters wandering the afterlife, it loses its way before reaching the destination.

The Heaven shown here was hell, and the movie was not much better. I was actually excited to watch this, but it was horrible.

Eternally bland. Miles Teller once again proves why he is one of the most compelling actors in cinema. After his remarkable work in 'Whiplash', he shines here with naturalness and charisma, giving his character a distinct identity of its own. Unfortunately, I don’t get the same effect from Elizabeth Olsen or Callum Turner. Both are talented actors, but here they fail to connect with me. Olsen spends much of the runtime trapped in a monotonous expression of anguish and crying, which becomes exhausting. Turner lacks the presence that Teller brings: his character feels flat, just a face and a name rather than someone with personality. I suppose this is due to the limited character development. The story doesn’t manage to sustain interest throughout its duration. The humor works occasionally, and some sequences are entertaining, but they cannot overcome the constant sense of repetition. The film feels long and heavy, spinning on itself like a top, with each turn offering only minimal changes to avoid complete repetition. 'Eternity' does have its strengths. The cinematography is striking and colorful, constantly reminding me of Wes Anderson—a detail I always appreciate in film. However, the set design of this particular utopia doesn’t fully convince me: visually impressive, yes, but not captivating. The script isn’t deficient either; I just didn’t connect with it. Overall, it’s an uneven experience: mostly irregular performances, a story that increasingly loses interest, and visuals that don’t compensate for the lack of pacing. A24 continues to explore different styles of filmmaking, but here it doesn’t quite reach the heights it has in the past.