Tag: fantasy romance

ETERNITY (2025) – Review

So what new genre are the fine folks at A24 going to tackle now? This current “indie darling” studio has made its mark with searing dramas and harrowing horror (I can’t even think about BRING HER BACK). What’s next? How about the “rom com”? Sure, this year’s MATERIALISTS would qualify, though it’s a pretty sharp comedic commentary on the current dating scene. Maybe they’ll look into one of those “sub-genres” such as the “fantasy/rom com”. Yes, indeed, their foray drops in theaters this holiday weekend. The fantasy part is the setting for most of the story: the afterlife. But there are no halos, or wings, or harps (maybe on the soundtrack). The plot concerns souls that are in a kind of limbo as they ponder some big decisions. See, it’s not just a question of “where” you want to spend the afterlife (more about that in a bit), bur rather “who” you want to be by your side for all of ETERNITY.


The story really starts on good ole’ planet Earth, today. The long-time elderly married couple, the Cutlers, are on their way to a “gender reveal” party, spurring much debate about current quirky traditions. But the celebration takes a tragic turn and suddenly the hubby/grandpa’ is on a very bizarre train. And he’s not in his 80s, instead he looks to be a spry thirty-something. Larry (Miles Teller) arrives at an equally strange station and is met by Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) who explains to him that he has passed away and is in a heavenly ‘holding zone”. She’s his personal “Afterlife Coordinator”, further explaining that he is at his “happiest age” and has a week to decide which “afterlife area” he will exist forever. Lots of reps for the many different “worlds” bombard him with sales pitches (maybe “Sports world” or “Business world”, among hundreds of choices). But hey, Larry wants to be with his wife, so he has the option of staying in this zone and taking a job (the place resembles a massive resort) until his love arrives (dies, really). It doesn’t seem like a bad choice after conversing with a friendly affable bartender named Luke (Callum Turner) who’s pouring drinks until his lady love shows up. It’s not too long until Larry’s beloved checks in at the train station. A disoriented Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) is greeted by her own “AC”, Ryan (John Early). Anna swoops in with Larry, but Ryan has another option. Seems he’s also the AC for Joan’s first husband, who had been killed in a war not long after they wed. And you can guess who that is. Now, Joan has to make the biggest decision of her life (actually afterlife). Should she join Luke in “Mountain world” or be with Larry in “Beach world”? Let the chaotic comedy contest begin…

Although this flick is marketed as an otherworldly love triangle, the “side” with the most screen time is probably Teller as the often befuddled and a bit coarse Larry. Though, he made his mark in action flicks like the TOP GUN sequel and the “under-the-radar” sci-fi/romance THE GORGE. Teller displays a deft comedic touch here as Larry schemes to “wreck the system” in order to win his lady’s heart. Plus, he scores some big laughs as he still thinks like an 80-year-old despite his youthful vigor. With the right script, Teller could carry an all-out farce. At the center of this “tug-of-war” is Olsen as the ever-flustered Joan. She’s more known for her dramatic fare, along with being part of the MCU, so it’s great to see Olsen taking a chance in this genre. Like Larry, she’s in the “old soul/young body” dilemma, though she’s not given enough “shtick” before Joan is being torn by the big choice. The other fella’ turning up the heat is the more stoic Luke, played by Turner as more of a “fish out of water”, being a man from the 1950s dealing with a duo from the next century. Plus, he’s more grounded since he’s been in this “zone” a very long time. Rather than joining in the gags, Turner conveys a smouldering intensity in order to make Larry “step up his game”. Oscar-winner Randolph as Anna has a nice snarky delivery while doing a great slow burn as Larry really gets on her “last nerve” despite her eternal tenure. She’s a nice contrast to Early as the rival AC, who displays a prim but perky aggressiveness which irritates Anna. Also of note is the funny deadpan performance by Ryan Beil as Fenwick, the bored ticket taker at the “museum of memories”.


The assured, steady direction is by David Freyne, who also worked on the script with Patrick Cunnane. He keeps the pace flowing for most of the first half, and giving this fantasy backdrop a grounded look, combining elements of a sales convention (lots of reps recruiting) and a massive vacation hotel (I was reminded of the interior wall of room inside the Luxor in Vegas). Somehow he keeps us focused on the trio, forgoing any flashy effects and camera techniques. And then the big “lull’ occurs at the midway point, just as we should be more invested in the big conflict. It just seems to run out of “juice”. Maybe more bits of satire were needed in the script since most of the “other worlds” are mentioned and tossed aside (I will say that the best joke concerns a world that’s unavailable due to its appeal to women, and I’m not talking about a “Chippendale’s World”). By the final act, we’re just reminded of the much better realized afterlife rom/coms like the 70s HEAVEN CAN WAIT and especially Albert Brooks’ DEFENDING YOUR LIFE. It’s a shame because the three lead actors are really trying to make the premise work, but when the jokes wear thin and the producers try to pluck at our heartstrings, this time spent at the multiplex really does feel like an ETERNITY.


2 Out of 4

ETERNITY opens in theatres on Wednesday, November 26, 2025

THE GREATEST HITS – Review

Here comes another time-traveling fantasy, but with a twist. As the kids on Bandstand used to say to Dick Clark, “It’s a gotta’ good beat. You can dance to it”. Maybe you could even do the twist. That’s because the force to send this story back through the decades isn’t a big machine, like the one H.G. Welles conjured or even the beloved DeLorean that Doc Brown modified. Nor is it hypnosis ala’ SOMEWHERE IN TIME, though the brain is involved along with…the ears. You see the gimmick here is music, specifically certain pop tunes that propel a twenty-something woman into the past. And just what is she doing six or seven years ago? Making “sure bet” investments perhaps? No, she’s trying to save a “lost love”, so this is really a romantic fantasy with a soundtrack that’s this couple’s take on those old “compilations” that were touted as THE GREATEST HITS.

Ths tale’s “traveler” is a lovely twenty-something woman named Harriet (Lucy Boynton) who is haunted by her departed love and spends her nights trying to change his fate. We meet her in her dark, but spacious LA apartment as she prepares for her nightly ritual. After a cocktail or three, she looks at her “mission board” that takes up most of the living room wall. It’s filled with index cards, photos, and bits of art denoting specific years (“2017”, “2020”, etc.). Across from it are stacks of boxes filled with vinyl AKA LP records, each box with a different designation (“safe”, “unused”, etc.). Harriet puts a record on her turntable, gets it spinning, sits on her big comfy chair, and passes out as the world spins about her. She awakens at a concert in the past where she met her love Max (David Corenswet). With different songs, we see flashes of their romance, culminating seconds before a fatal car crash that Harriet can’t prevent. She finally returns to the “now” just in time to put in her earplugs and headphones (so that some background music doesn’t “trigger a trip”) and go to her job at the nearby library (lots of quiet there). From work she drops in to see her BFF, aspiring DJ Morris (Austin Crute), who shares her secret without judgment, though he urges her to “move on” while providing her with access to vintage vinyl. Then it’s off to the grief support group run by the sympathetic Dr. Bartlett (Retta). Then one day, Harriet’s routine is broken by a new addition to the group, the friendly but somewhat sad (he just lost both parents) David (Justin H. Min). They two begin to connect, but will the possibility of a new romance stop Harriet’s “music mission”? And just what will he think of her when she has a “spell” and tries to explain her dives through the decades via timeless tunes?

The role of Harriet seems well suited to Boynton as perhaps part of her “pop music trilogy” with roles in SING STREET and BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. Aside from her camera-ready looks, she conveys a real passion for the melodies, while also being fearful of being blindsided by a tune that will expose her “gift”. Boynton also expresses a yearning for the past and a need to put up a wall to ward off a new connection. That is her developing kinship with Min as the slightly melancholy David who is also clinging to the past, mainly his takeover of the failing antique shop of his parents. He too needs to step away from the legacy, but Min shows us David’s unease that saps the sparks with Harriet. Corenswet doesn’t really break a sweat (sorry) as the effortlessly cool charismatic “dream guy” forever frozen in happier times. It’s a nice supporting role for him before we see him zooming over Metropolis next year. Crute brings some energy and a bit of snark in the thankless now rom-com cliche gay cheerleader pal of the story’s heroine (though it’s hinted that Morris is probably bisexual). He deserves better. And that goes for the warm compelling Retta who does get a nice speech about grief before she tries to guide Harriet into a healing mode.

Writer/director Ned Benson evokes a bit of the spirit of David Boyle’s YESTERDAY mixed with a very generous amount of John Carney for this love letter to LPs and live music, complete with a nice acting cameo from a celebrated singer. And that word seems to sum up the whole enterprise…nice. Harriet, David, and Max are all very nice people, but aside from Harriet’s music mania, they’re all sort of bland, It’s a surprise after the risks Benson took with his Eleanor Rigby trilogy a few years ago. The LA locations are fairly familiar with opulent apartments that feel like the fantasy digs of a sitcom. Everybody seems to be just drifting along with any concern over “paying their dues”, though David is torn about the family biz. I was pleased that they found an engaging clever way to thwart fate and avoid all the timeline “hoo-hah” of flicks like FREQUENCY (doesn’t hold up to logic, though it’s lotsa’ fun). All the principals are ultra-cool to the point that they never come close to the boiling point of passion, aside from their zeal to grab a rare disc. In the cinema subgenre of time travel fantasies, this trifle wouldn’t have a spot in THE GREATEST HITS.

2 Out of 4

THE GREATEST HITS streams exclusively on Hulu beginning on Friday, April 12, 2024