Film Review: Eternity 換乘真愛 (2025) - USA
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia)
I rated it 9/10
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
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In the celestial bureaucracy of modern cinema, where spectacle often overshadows soul, David Freyne’s “Eternity” arrives like a whispered secret passed between angels. This is not merely a romantic comedy, nor is it solely a metaphysical fantasy. It is a film that understands the terrifying weight of the word "forever," yet approaches it with the deft, bittersweet touch of a master jeweler examining a priceless, flawed gem. The result is one of the most genuinely moving and intellectually satisfying films of the year, a romantic fable for adults who know love is rarely simple and eternity is an awfully long time.
The premise, laid out with disarming simplicity in the film’s serene, pastel-hued afterlife "Waiting Room," is this: you have one week to choose the single person with whom you will spend “all” of eternity. Not a committee. One. Enter Joan, played by Elizabeth Olsen in a performance so layered, so achingly human, it feels less like acting and more like soul-baring. Joan is confronted by the ultimate existential crossroads. On one path stands Larry (Miles Teller, radiating weary, lived-in affection), the husband who shared decades: the mortgage payments, the children’s triumphs and tantrums, the comfortable silences and the creaking joints of middle age. He knows her, every scar and sigh. On the other path beams Luke (Callum Turner, perfectly encapsulating eternal youthful allure), the dazzling "what if?" from her youth, forever preserved in the golden amber of unconsummated first love, a promise of passion untarnished by time’s relentless abrasion.
What elevates “Eternity” beyond its clever hook is Freyne’s resolute refusal to offer an easy answer. This is no simplistic fable championing either comfortable familiarity or reckless passion. Freyne’s brilliant script, brought to life by Olsen’s mesmerizing vulnerability and palpable chemistry with both leading men, dissects the very nature of love and companionship. It asks: Is devotion measured in shared years or the intensity of a single, remembered glance? Is the comfort of a hand worn smooth by time a prison or a sanctuary? The film holds these opposing truths in perfect, agonizing tension, forcing Joan – and by extension, us – to truly weigh the substance of a life lived against the phantom of a life imagined.
The genius stroke lies in the film’s tonal balancing act. Just as the existential weight threatens to buckle the narrative, Freyne deploys his secret weapons: Da'Vine Joy Randolph and John Early as Brenda and Gary, the afterlife’s hilariously jaded, clipboard-wielding coordinators. Their impeccable comedic timing, dripping with bureaucratic ennui and celestial sarcasm ("Standard eternity package, includes shared cloud-space and complimentary harp tuning... eventually"), provides the essential counterpoint. They are the grounding wire, reminding us that even amidst cosmic choices, there’s still paperwork and petty office politics. They prevent the tears from drowning the laughter, and vice versa.
Visually, the film is a quiet stunner. The production design of the Waiting Room – all soothing mid-century modern curves and soft, ethereal light – feels both inviting and subtly unsettling, a celestial airport lounge designed to soothe while you make the most impossible decision imaginable. It’s a place outside time, yet achingly familiar.
By the time the final, hauntingly beautiful frames dissolve, “Eternity” achieves something remarkable. It transcends its genre trappings. It’s not just about who Joan chooses. It becomes a profound meditation on the choices we make in our finite lives, the loves we nurture and the ones we release, the memories we cling to and the realities we build. It asks the most piercing question of all: What does it mean to have truly lived a life worth remembering, let alone spending eternity reliving?
“Eternity” is the kind of film that lingers, like the scent of a loved one’s perfume long after they’ve left the room. It is poignant without being maudlin, hilarious without being glib, and deeply moving without resorting to manipulation. Elizabeth Olsen delivers a masterclass, and Freyne crafts a romantic fantasy with the wisdom and weight of lived experience. It is, quite simply, the best film about love – in all its messy, complicated, terrifying, and eternal glory – that this decade has yet produced. Don't just see it. Let it inhabit you. Then go discuss your own choice over coffee, wine, or perhaps just a long, thoughtful walk under the stars. The conversation will last longer than the film, and that’s the highest praise I can give. (Neo, 2026)
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