When a character dies in Eternity, they find themselves on a train that arrives at a hotel setting, where bureaucratic agents await. We’ve seen similar setups in other films, most notably Beetlejuice. David Freyne’s film adds a few clever twists, however. The afterlife runs like a travel agency, although people only get a one-way ticket. If you choose an eternity by the ocean and eventually feel beached out, there’s no going back. Those who try risk getting thrown into a void. Why people aren’t allowed to travel between eternities is never explained, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is where Elizabeth Olsen’s Joan chooses to spend it and, more importantly, with whom.
Joan lived to be an elderly woman, played by Betty Buckley. Once she succumbs to her cancer, Joan reverts to her younger self in the afterlife. Olsen gives a pitch-perfect comedic performance as a grandma in a young lady’s body, but she brings depth to the character as well. Joan isn’t alone for long, as her husband Larry (Miles Teller) kicked the bucket earlier that week. Teller is also uncanny as a cranky old man without overplaying it. While Joan is prepared to spend eternity with Larry, he’s not the only husband there. Her first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died in the Korean War, waited over sixty years for her.
This is where Eternity gets interesting. Joan not only finds herself torn between husbands, but also their ACs (afterlife coordinators). Da’Vine Joy Randolph plays Larry’s AC Anna, who cares about her clients despite being snarkier than a DMV employee. Luke’s AC Ryan (John Early) is more on the ball, having prepared all these years to play matchmaker. It’s a genuinely difficult choice for Joan. While she built a life with Larry, she never had that opportunity with Luke. Now’s her chance to discover what could’ve been.
Although Larry can be a curmudgeon, we do empathize with the guy as he grapples with the notion that the only woman he’s ever loved might’ve settled for him. The filmmakers wisely don’t turn Luke into the bad guy. What’s more, they don’t make him too perfect. Some might find it romantic that Luke waited decades for the love of his short life. At the same time, there’s a sense of entitlement to Luke, who assumed he’d be able to pick up right where he left off with Joan. Where Joan has matured in ways that Luke hasn’t. Yet, there’s still a spark between the two.
Pat Cunnane and Freyne’s witty screenplay respects its characters in a love triangle that keeps us guessing. Freyne brings an inventive visual eye to the equation with Oscar-worthy production design. He’s made a fantastical romance worthy of comparison to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It builds to a heartfelt resolution, even if the ending is a bit of a copout. Without giving too much away, the characters keep building up the consequences of trying to switch eternities. To steal a line from Ryan George, though, the workaround is actually super easy, barely an inconvenience. Still, the final decision isn’t without sacrifice, leaving the characters on a fitting final note.