I saw Eternity at TIFF 2025 after a brutal morning watching the amazing, yet heartbreaking Hamnet. I have never needed a pick-me-up so bad, and this was the perfect movie for that. Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller and Callum Turner are an excellent trio, and the supporting cast had me howling. Eternity was creative, fun, funny and meaningful and was definitely my favourite comedy at TIFF 2025.
Eternity explores a hilarious “there is no heaven or hell” afterlife. After a husband and wife, Larry (Miles Teller) and Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), both die within a week of each other, they are forced to choose the right afterlife for them. There’s only one catch: Joan’s first husband, Luke (Callum Turner), who died in the war, has been waiting 67 years for her to show up. Now Joan must choose who she wants to spend an eternity with, her husband of 65 years, or the man she never got a chance with.
Something I hadn’t considered before going into the film is that Larry and Joan both die as elderly people. In the afterlife, you revert to your happiest self, so though everyone looks young, they are still in their 80s at heart. This means that Olsen and Teller spend the entire film acting like a cranky old couple, and it works so, so well. Teller nails playing a complaining, complacent 80-something, and Olsen is the perfect match.
There are points in Eternity where Joan is swooning over Luke, but the second she speaks to Larry, she clicks back into that wife of 65 years, and their banter is top-notch. The comedic timing between these two is outstanding, and it made the film that much more funny. Luke, on the other hand, died 67 years ago, so everything about him is from another time. His romantic side feels like it comes out of an old movie. The writing in Eternity perfectly captures these moments in time.
There is a lot to be said about the writing, actually. Eternity is such a fun concept, and a lot of its humour is in the little details. Catching posters for different eternities like Studio 54, Museum World, a man-less world and mentions of so many more throughout the film are laugh-out-loud funny. Writers Patrick Cunnane and David Freyne (also the director) thought of every little detail, from explaining how clothes are chosen in the afterlife right down to the rules of picking eternities, and the script is just so witty. There are also several recurring jokes that could have gotten stale, but they landed every single time.
“Eternity was creative, fun, funny and meaningful and was definitely my favourite comedy at TIFF 2025.”
Something I don’t often talk about is set design, but everything in Eternity is just so detailed, vibrant and creative. Whether it’s the train station design of the central hub in the afterlife, the different afterlives you can choose from, or even just the eternity poster designs, there is something almost whimsical about them.
As I mentioned earlier, the supporting cast in Eternity may actually be the highlight for me. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Lost City) and John Early (Bob’s Burgers) play the ACs—Afterlife Coordinators. It is their job to help the recently deceased cope with their death and choose an eternity—very Beetlejuice. Their back-and-forths are absolutely some of the funniest moments in the film, and both of them manage to steal every scene they are in. I didn’t know Early before this, and I certainly want to see more.
I knew I wanted to see Eternity as soon as I saw the premise, and I will always watch anything with Elizabeth Olsen. However, I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. It was definitely a much-needed palette cleanser, but it is also a creative, strong comedy with some sweet moments. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good romantic comedy.
Eternity releases on November 25, 2025
