'Eternity's Afterlife Love Triangle Is Playful and Hearty

“To love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.” Yes, but is there anything past the death part? Does that devotional contract carry on into what we hope and claim is the afterlife? Loving someone until the end of time is a fleeting promise when it comes to the delicate nature of mortality, but eternity? Now, we’re talking forever. Forever ever? Forever ever.

In writer/director David Freyne’s romantic comedy “Eternity,” two types of love commonly explored in romantic comedies are competing forces for a woman’s heart. Do you stick to the relationship you know or leap at the possibilities of one that has potential? It’s a conundrum that would make a living person stressed out to the maximum. Add the extra ingredient that the choice will be for all of time, and what you get is a funny, tugs-at-the-heartstrings story of regret and devotion.

“Eternity” / Photo Credit: A24

Larry (Miles Teller) and Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) have been married for over 60 years and have been lucky to have children and grandchildren. They’ve long settled into that lovely bickering stage where they point out particular habits out of humor. That all changes when Larry unexpectedly dies from choking on a pretzel (which Joan warns him about eating too fast). The afterlife in Freyne’s film is not traveling down an endless tunnel of white light; it’s an upscale hotel with all the dressings and colors you would be familiar with at a family resort. When you’re dead in this world, you assume the form you were happiest in. For Larry, it’s his mid-30s.

The hotel is not meant for you to stay, however. Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), Larry’s afterlife counselor, informs him he has a choice to make in a week’s time. You get to choose one instance of Eternity that will serve as your dwelling place for good. No do-overs. For Freyne and co-writer Pat Cunnane, this provides them with a fun template of background world-building. All instances of these different types of post-death experiences run in the background. There’s a “man-free” world, a “Bromance world,” a “Beach world,” and pretty much anything you can think of. Salespersons operate to try to get wandering souls to come to their experiences, complete with intermittent commercials. It’s all a nice appendage to the plot at hand. Larry is all set to make his choice when Joan suddenly bites the big one.

“Eternity” / Photo Credit: A24

You would think they would both be ready to make the big jump into a happily ever after scenario, but that’s when “Eternity” throws a big monkey wrench into this line of thinking. As it turns out, Joan was married once, to Luke (Callum Turner), who happens to be a bartender at the waiting hotel. He’s handsome and charismatic. Once a soldier, he tragically died at a young age while out at war. His appearance throws Joan into emotional disarray. What do you pick? Potential or comfort?

To that effect, Teller and Turner both do a good job at differentiating their characters as they war with one another for Joan’s heart. While Larry is young in his appearance, he’s an old soul and rather cranky. However, he’s delighted to be doing squats without any pain. Luke is the quintessential heartthrob who is first presented with very few thorns to him. He is the personification of young love, something that is very enticing to Joan. Olsen brings not only a comedic tone to Joan but also the weight of this decision. It would be very easy for “Eternity” to venture down a typical “who will be chosen” road for the entirety of the plot. There comes a point where the back and forth feels as though it’s starting to wear thin. To that point, Freyne and Cunnane interject other subplots to bring a full picture.

Before the trio arrives, Anna feels unfulfilled as a person, ushering a revolving door of souls into their final destinations. In meeting Larry and igniting a rivalry with Joan’s counselor, Ryan (John Early), she finds her purpose within her job again, rooting for the underdog. That’s “Eternity”’s secret weapon in all the conventionality of the story – the emotional undercurrent of feeling that a decision is the wrong one. On the surface, you would think Joan’s decision is an easy one to make. But each person provides their own sort of pros and cons. Perhaps some thoughts of potential aren’t as rosy as we think they are.

“Eternity” ends with a resolution that may feel a bit boilerplate, given some of the twists and turns of the story. The timeframe given for this decision may have worked against the emotional track had this particular cast not been chosen. Still, enough magic, relatable conflict, and enjoyable fantasy are present to land the plane on the right note.