'Eternity' Review: A Romantic Comedy Afterlife Misfire

⭐⭐ (2/5 Stars)

Directed by: David Freyne

Written by: Pat Cunnane, David Freyne

Starring: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph

Release Date: November 26, 2025

A High-Concept Afterlife Premise That Goes Nowhere

Eternity casts Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen as Larry and Joan, an elderly married couple who die only days apart. Larry arrives first in “Eternity,” a bureaucratic way station where the dead choose how they’d like to spend the rest of their… well, eternity. Da’Vine Joy Randolph plays Anna, a cheery clerk who insists she’s no angel—just an afterlife administrator with paperwork and protocols.

Larry refuses to move on without Joan, so he takes a job in the afterlife to buy time until she arrives. When Joan finally shows up, she appears in the youthful form of her happiest self, just as Larry does. This conceit could have been delightful if the film had anything meaningful to do with it.

Instead, Eternity gets stuck in one repetitive dilemma: Which man should Joan choose to spend eternity with? Her loyal husband of 50+ years, Larry, or her first great love, Luke (Callum Turner), who died in the Korean War and has been waiting for her for half a century?

That single question is the entire movie.

A Love Triangle With No Heat—and Even Less Plot

Joan’s supposedly agonizing choice dominates Eternity, leaving little room for subplots, humor, or anything approaching surprise. Luke is the tall, handsome embodiment of Joan’s romantic past. Larry is the dependable, slightly boring spouse she grew old with. That’s the whole dynamic, and the movie repeats it for nearly two hours.

A half-hearted side character—Joan’s best friend Karen (Olga Mendez), who also dies—appears occasionally to encourage Joan one direction or another. None of it matters. Karen barely exists as a character, and her scenes feel like filler.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, easily the most charismatic performer in this cast, is relegated to watching the love triangle unfold while delivering the occasional quip. The script even attempts to give her a romance with John Early’s fellow bureaucrat, Ryan, but it’s underdeveloped and emotionally weightless.

Teller and Turner struggle even more. Neither has the comedic instincts needed to elevate material this thin, and both come off as blandly interchangeable rather than rivals worth rooting for.

Predictable Structure, Hollow Stakes

Eternity telegraphs its twists early—and drags out scenes long past the point of tension. The film repeatedly reminds us of the “rules” of Eternity: if you choose your afterlife and then change your mind, you’re doomed to a purgatorial void. The movie presents this as a terrifying, irreversible fate.

But the screenplay never has the nerve to follow through. You can feel the narrative hedging every bet. When Joan appears to make her choice long before the film is over, the remaining runtime tells us immediately that nothing is final.

With no emotional stakes, no narrative momentum, and no real philosophical curiosity, the movie simply loops the same conflict until the credits.

Attempts at Comedy That Fall Flat

The film seems aware—almost defensively—of its own predictability. That might explain why it leans into broad physical comedy and drunken antics, especially from Elizabeth Olsen, who throws herself bodily into scenes trying to force out laughter the script doesn’t earn. A few moments land, but most feel desperate.

Teller and Turner fare worse. Their attempts at charm or humor never rise above mild smirks and limp punchlines. They’re each as compelling as a damp washcloth, and the film asks them to carry emotional weight they simply can’t lift.

A Pale Echo of a Better Movie

There is simply no way to discuss Eternity without acknowledging its unavoidable comparison: Defending Your Life. Albert Brooks already gave us the ideal version of a romantic afterlife comedy—warm, insightful, genuinely funny, and quietly profound.

Meryl Streep glowed. Rip Torn and Lee Grant stole scenes with ease. And the film explored the afterlife with both imagination and emotional depth.

Eternity is none of those things. It’s a faded carbon copy several generations removed—the Multiplicity-of-a-Multiplicity version of Defending Your Life, not the first lovingly created one.

I’m thankful the filmmakers didn’t attempt a direct remake. But if you’re going to walk in the shadow of a classic, you need to bring something bold, new, or insightful.

Eternity brings none of it.

Final Verdict

Eternity is a romantic comedy without romance, a comedy without laughs, and an afterlife story without wonder. It wastes a strong cast, squanders a promising premise, and never builds emotional or thematic momentum. There’s simply not enough here to justify its own existence.

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