I went to see “Eternity” last Saturday and cried at the cinema for the first time in a very long time.
If you know me or have read any of my movie reviews on this blog, I am a sucker for rom-coms. I love happy endings, feel-good movies, anything that’s about love, I just love, LOVE.
So it is without surprise that on Saturday, I decided to use my last Everyman Cinema voucher to go see Eternity (film by David Freyne).
So it is without surprise that on Saturday, I decided to use my last Everyman Cinema voucher to go see Eternity (film by David Freyne).
Movie plot
After someone dies, they wake up as the happiest version of themselves on a train en route to The Junction, a place where they have one week to choose between a multitude of afterlives, where they’ll spend their eternity. They’re matched up with an Afterlife Coordinator (AC), who’ll guide them throughout the decision process.
In ‘Eternity’, Larry Cutler (Miles Teller) dies unexpectedly and ends up in The Junction. He has a week to figure out where he wants to spend his afterlife, but he also needs to consider where his wife, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), would like to spend eternity. After a week, he’s reunited with his wife, Joan, at The Junction, but she’s also reunited with someone else … Luke (Callum Turner), her first husband, who died in his early 20s in the war.
This is where the dilemma lies for this trio: who’s Joan going to spend Eternity with and where?
Who is she going to choose? The dreamy first husband, whose life was taken way too early and whom she still loved all her life, or the man with whom she shared 67 years of love, grew a wonderful family with her and created a life that she loved.
In ‘Eternity’, Larry Cutler (Miles Teller) dies unexpectedly and ends up in The Junction. He has a week to figure out where he wants to spend his afterlife, but he also needs to consider where his wife, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), would like to spend eternity. After a week, he’s reunited with his wife, Joan, at The Junction, but she’s also reunited with someone else … Luke (Callum Turner), her first husband, who died in his early 20s in the war.
This is where the dilemma lies for this trio: who’s Joan going to spend Eternity with and where?
Who is she going to choose? The dreamy first husband, whose life was taken way too early and whom she still loved all her life, or the man with whom she shared 67 years of love, grew a wonderful family with her and created a life that she loved.
My opinion
After watching the trailer, I thought that if I were in Joan’s shoes, I’d probably choose my young long-lost husband who waited for me for 67 years instead of the husband with whom I spent 65 years of my life. Would this decision be 80% based on the fact that Luke is a 12/10? Totally, I am vain! (Joking! or partially). While watching the movie, I realised that even if one part of Joan waited all her life to be reunited with Luke, she also spent 65 wonderful years with Larry, and nothing can erase this.
This is why you see her so conflicted about her choice. Indeed, she woke up to a younger version of herself, but on the inside, she’s Joan, who died with 80 years’ worth of memories.
This is why you see her so conflicted about her choice. Indeed, she woke up to a younger version of herself, but on the inside, she’s Joan, who died with 80 years’ worth of memories.
What do I like about this movie?
I took from this movie to lessons:
1) Lesson about Living Your Life.
When you wake up on the afterlife train, you wake up as yourself at the age you were happiest.
This made me wonder, if I already lived through the happiest time of my life, or if the best has yet to come? I hope the latter, but I don’t think I’d be too sad if it wasn’t the case. It may sound a little cynical, but in the past couple of years, I’ve really been trying to live life to the fullest. Even if some periods were not great, I try to focus on the positive moments within these years.
If you delve into the subject, the question that you need to ask yourself is: “How can I ensure I am living my life to the fullest without constantly thinking that I’m missing something?” Sometimes we’re too preoccupied with chasing the next high or reliving past moments that we might end up missing the happiest times of our lives.
When you wake up on the afterlife train, you wake up as yourself at the age you were happiest.
This made me wonder, if I already lived through the happiest time of my life, or if the best has yet to come? I hope the latter, but I don’t think I’d be too sad if it wasn’t the case. It may sound a little cynical, but in the past couple of years, I’ve really been trying to live life to the fullest. Even if some periods were not great, I try to focus on the positive moments within these years.
If you delve into the subject, the question that you need to ask yourself is: “How can I ensure I am living my life to the fullest without constantly thinking that I’m missing something?” Sometimes we’re too preoccupied with chasing the next high or reliving past moments that we might end up missing the happiest times of our lives.
2) Lesson about Choices.
When it comes to choosing between different options, I’m the worst! I’m incredibly indecisive, a true Libra! I wish we could live in a Marvel Universe, where we have the possibility to live in different realities and see what happens in these other universes. I’d love to know where Noémie, who didn’t end up going to London, ended up, and what she is doing? I’d love to see that!
That’s why I wouldn’t want to be in Joan’s shoes – it would be an impossible choice for me. Like her, I sometimes get so drawn to the past that I choose it for comfort, or to imagine what could have been, instead of focusing on what I’ve already lived or what could still happen.
When it comes to choosing between different options, I’m the worst! I’m incredibly indecisive, a true Libra! I wish we could live in a Marvel Universe, where we have the possibility to live in different realities and see what happens in these other universes. I’d love to know where Noémie, who didn’t end up going to London, ended up, and what she is doing? I’d love to see that!
That’s why I wouldn’t want to be in Joan’s shoes – it would be an impossible choice for me. Like her, I sometimes get so drawn to the past that I choose it for comfort, or to imagine what could have been, instead of focusing on what I’ve already lived or what could still happen.
What’s my final opinion on the movie?
I really enjoyed the movie – so much that I ended up crying because you know, LOVE is beautiful. However, I thought that it was slightly too long or that the movie repeated itself at some point. We got stuck in a sort of storyline limbo for a good 30 minutes until the epilogue. I wouldn’t say that the ending needed to come straight away, but it could have been planned a bit better.
The best description would be that we were going up on the roller coaster, almost reached the perfect ending, then went back down for a long time before the rhythm picked up again.
The best description would be that we were going up on the roller coaster, almost reached the perfect ending, then went back down for a long time before the rhythm picked up again.
I’d give the movie an 8/10 – it’s a feel-good movie, a rom-com as I love them, even if there were some down times that I didn’t like. I also really enjoyed the trio we had on-screen; they had a great alchemy, and Elizabeth Olsen’s role reminded me of her character in WandaVision. I actually prefer her in comedic space rather than as Wanda. The two husbands, Miles Teller and Callum Turner, were perfectly cast; one is a not-so-perfect, but who would totally get husband of the year award. The other one is a Calvin Klein model who’s perfect (or almost) on every plan. If we add the two charming Afterlife Coordinators, we have the perfect main cast.
I’d totally recommend seeing ‘Eternity’, a movie that touches on love, life, and death with comedy and subtlety. A feel-good bubble that is much-needed!
Have you seen the movie? If you haven’t, would you go to see it?
A movie by David Freyne, starring Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner.
Love,
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