I’m a pretty average movie fan. I’m not unknowledgeable; I have dabbled in many genres, I like movies, and I enjoy going to movie theatres! That being said, I am not a movie buff by any means. I don’t have a Letterboxd (I know, I’m not proud of it), and I don’t get into debates with people online. I don’t even have an AMC Stubs membership.
However, I do think this gives me a good standing to review movies for the people. I can’t give you your highbrow technical review, but I can tell you what I enjoyed, and if I think you’ll enjoy it too!
I had the incredible opportunity to attend an early screening of the latest A24 film, Eternity, which will be released on November 26, 2025. The basic premise: Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) finds herself in a purgatory sort of junction after dying. While choosing where she spends the rest of her eternity, she also must choose who she spends it with. Her options are: her first husband, Luke (Callum Turner), who has been waiting in the junction for 67 years to meet her again, or her current husband, Larry (Miles Teller), with whom she has spent 65 years of her life.
It’s a rom-com, but it also calls up a lot more introspective questions, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Hilarity ensues, characters develop, and relationships are tested.Â
I loved the texture and color quality of the visuals. The characters are all based on 1950s versions of themselves, so there was a definite vintage quality to the looks. It was hazy enough to be endearing, and the coloring was all very bright. I find a lot of the time, I have trouble seeing movies; they are just so dimly lit, so this was a nice change.
Furthermore, the set design was just perfect. As part of the plot, there are countless eternities to choose from, ranging from a Satanism World and a Mall World, to a Man-Free world. To represent this, they set up a convention-esque expo hall with people promoting the various eternities, many of which provided comical amusement.
The plot wasn’t too convoluted, and it was fairly easy to follow. The main three characters had a well-acted dynamic, and the supporting cast was simply hilarious, especially Anna, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
I was slightly put off by the (possibly coincidental) repetition of 67, but I’m going to hope that it was a simple number that made the most mathematical sense for the timeline, and not an effort to pander to the meme that has since been created.Â
In these sorts of love triangle situations, it is almost always a self-insert scenario. Be it Bella, Edward, and Jacob, or Elena, Stefan, and Damon, there is always a difficult choice to make. I won’t spoil it, but they did handle it quite fairly.
That being said, I didn’t love the ending. I am willing to chalk this up to the inexperience of youth, or maybe the heightened sense of female liberation that comes with college freedom, but I would not want to spend eternity with any man! And I think there was a certain patriarchal pressure on Joan to choose between husbands for eternity. Callum Turner is one sexy guy, but it felt guilt-trippy to hold Joan to eternity simply because he waited for 67 years. Similarly, Miles Teller is awesome, but after a lifetime of marriage, you still want eternity?
Overall, I did enjoy it. I think you would too. It reminded me of Barbie, in the fun dream world and introspective-wonder sense. I had a lot of laughs, and even if I left feeling disappointed (because of my personal preferences), I still felt fulfilled.
Definitely will be rewatching!
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