“Till death do us part” – the sentence that ends many wedding vows and which has infiltrated the global culture as one of the defining sentiments when it comes to assuring a lifetime of affection and devotion. However, something that is not considered quite as often is what happens afterwards, which is a much more interesting and challenging question. Everyone, from the fields of biology to religion to existential philosophy, has been fascinated with trying to find the answer, with the reality being that none of us actually knows what happens when we cross the threshold between life and death. This question is also the foundation for Eternity, the third feature by David Freyne, and one of the year’s most original and daring concepts. The film follows Joan, a recently deceased woman who finds herself in the ambiguous space between the living world and the afterlife, where she is told that she has seven days to choose the afterlife where she would like to spend the rest of eternity. This appealing idea is quickly ruined when she is presented with an even more difficult choice – both of her husbands are also deceased, and are in the same space. Larry, her partner of over sixty years, pre-deceased her by only a few days, while Luke, her first husband, who died during the Korean War, has been patiently waiting decades for her. Suddenly, she not only has to choose where she wants to spend eternity, but also the person she would like to pass the time with, which proves to be a far more challenging choice than she ever imagined, especially when both men represent something very different. Another entry into a solid canon of works built around exploring the fickle boundary between life and death, but where humour, heart and honesty are the core components (as well as some very strong, meaningful direction that is coupled with the brilliant writing) that pull everything together, making it a far more compelling film than we may initially expect. High-concept storytelling paired with fantastic performances and a simple, evocative approach to bringing it to life, Eternity is one of the year’s most moving and captivating comedies, and a truly tremendous glimpse into the mind of some wonderfully eccentric characters who hint at something much more profound lingering beneath the surface.

Originality in cinema is becoming such a rare occurrence, and it seems like every story that can be told has already been done in some way or another. Yet, something that we don’t always realise – and which indeed does find its way into the conversation quite frequently whenever one of them emerges – is that some of the most exciting concepts are not those which start with the most original concept, but rather take something familiar and creatively manipulate it to evoke new ideas. In the case of Eternity, it takes a common topic – the afterlife – and reconfigures it to have its own mythology, one that is not particularly revolutionary, but still original enough to pique our curiosity. The idea of removing all religious connotations from the concept (or at least using it as more of a punchline to some very fun jokes, rather that allowing it to guide the whole narrative) is not only smart in terms of ensuring all bases were covered – the best kind of inclusion is a story in which everyone is excluded, the only way to tell a truly universal story in a sense – but forces the film to find other methods of telling its story, rather than relying on the more obvious tropes. This forms the basis for what is a surprisingly spry, complex work, a film that addresses the idea of the afterlife as less of a utopian paradise and more a natural point of transition, a place where we have some degree of agency and are still forced to make certain challenging decisions. This opens the door for some fascinating conversations on not only life and death (which are here shown to be far from mutually exclusive and frankly still very unique), but also the nature of love, which is ultimately the core of the film, and the primary motivation for some of its more intriguing discussions. Eternity is a long time, and if we are lucky, we find one person whom we would be glad to spend it with – but how do those who are lucky enough to have more than one soulmate function when presented with a choice? Who means more to us – the person you spent the majority of your life with, or the one with whom you had a short but torrid romance before they were taken away long before their time? The answer isn’t very clear, and the film spends almost its entire running time oscillating between the options – and the journey we take to get to the solution is fascinating, stellar and truly original in ways we would not normally expect.

At the heart of Eternity are three very charismatic performances, each one different but which work together exceptionally well, becoming symbiotic in how they’re used to tell this story. Elizabeth Olsen has been forging a lovely career for herself, moving between mainstream blockbusters and more subdued, small-scale work in independent and arthouse-driven films, which have allowed her to make some brilliant decisions that position her as one of the most versatile young actors working today. Her performance as Joan is lovely – subtle and nuanced, but also filled with unique little quirks that not only play into the inherent humour of the film, but also the more sentimental side of it. She’s joined by Miles Teller, who has never been more lovable than he is as a man who realises that all his efforts to be a good husband for nearly seven decades may have just been a waste once his wife runs into the man she considers to be her first love, who is here played by an equally charming Callum Turner, who brings a layer of sensitivity to what could have been a one-dimensional caricature. The fact that all three leads (as well as Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early, who play supporting parts but bring so much joy and energy to the film, stealing every scene in which they appear) are so compelling comes from a well-crafted script that treats them as three-dimensional, complex characters. The actors put in a lot of effort and work closely with the director to create meaningful interpretations that represent ordinary people placed in a position where they have to make an impossible decision. The tender, earnest work from the actors is the only way these ideas could properly be communicated – we need to understand exactly why both of these men are appealing to Joan in terms of choosing a partner for the rest of eternity, but they also can’t be ideal to the point where they lack any interesting qualities. Teller and Turner have the unenviable task of playing these extremely complex characters by walking a narrow tightrope between the merits and shortcomings of these characters, allowing the film to thrive in ways that would not have been possible without their stellar work from the very outset. It’s a solid cast that does what was required, while still finding space to assert their own unique interpretation of the core themes.

The qualities that make Eternity so effective are not necessarily restricted to the concept or the actors enlisted to bring it to life – they’re undeniably important and worth praising, but what truly gives this film shape is the execution of its ideas. Freyne is a very gifted filmmaker, someone who seems to veer towards being a journeyman based on both his body of work across different media and the fact that his films are usually more straightforward, but who does circle a more intriguing approach when it is required, not being afraid to leap on occasion. Part of the brilliance of this film is its command of the emotions – it establishes very early on that it wants to be comedic, but not at the expense of the more sombre ideas. After all, this is a film that explores the subject of death and how it can often tear apart people with the most beautiful relationships. There is a lot of metaphorical meaning that drives this film, which we find is primarily what draws us into this story. The tone is best described as more bittersweet than it is outrageously funny – there are several moments of off-the-wall humour that punctuate the film, but what really makes it special is its willingness to not only acknowledge the more difficult emotional components, but actively embrace them. The impossible choice that Joan has to make is central to the narrative, as is the feeling that, regardless of her decision, she will be leaving something behind. The core thesis statement of this film is made clear towards the end: Does true happiness come from passion or patience, and are the people who mean the most those who exist in our lives for a short but intense period, or the ones who we may grow weary of as time progresses, but who are with us to the bitter end? Laying it out like this, it’s clear the direction in which the film eventually goes, and much like his previous film (the lovely Dating Amber), it finds the perfect balance between sentimental and comedic, avoiding being heavy-handed on most occasions, but also not being afraid to sit with certain uncomfortable or awkward emotions rather than just pushing them to the side, which makes it a far more mature, complex work.

Eternity is certainly not a perfect film, but what it lacks in nuance it more than makes up for in audacity and candour, especially in how it balances its unique ideas with more familiar elements. It is destined to join the likes of A Matter of Life and Death and Defending Your Life as exceptionally funny and earnestly moving explorations of the afterlife – and much like those films, it develops its own bespoke mythology that is quite exciting and generally intriguing, enough that we often want to step away from the main storyline and just explore the exceptionally well-constructed world that the director puts together, which is always going to be a sign of a truly great piece of speculative fiction. The fact remains that none of us know what happens after we die, so everything is just a matter of interpretation and hoping that whatever outcome we believe to be true actually manifests – but what this film does exceptionally well is showing that the details don’t matter, since paradise is not defined by the amenities, but rather the people we spend eternity with, which is what makes this interpretation of life after death particularly appealing. Funny and heartfelt in equal measure, anchored by some tremendous performances and a sense of genuine affection for the material, Eternity is a lot of fun – a meaningful, well-crafted blend of fantasy, comedy and romance, taking each one of them seriously enough to make some compelling arguments, but also not being weighed down by any didactic discourse around love and the afterlife, two themes that we never expected to work so well when put alongside one another. It’s a delightfully moving, complex work with a lot of heart and soul, driven by a desire to say something captivating without depending so much on familiar themes, and ultimately becoming a triumph in terms of both its ambitious concept and moving, delightfully irreverent execution.