Film review: Fun and clever, breathing life into after-life genre
Eternity, in cinemas now, cert 12a, ****
That tells a heart-warming story of romantic second chances after a premature death.
In 1988’s , we get an eccentric look at life after death, combining elements of horror with humour.
The two couldn’t be more different in their portrayal of the after-life, but both are definitive films on the subject.
The after-life genre can be wildly fun because it allows film-makers to imagine life beyond our world. Since no-one knows what happens after we die, these films can explore endless exciting possibilities, each one more colourful and engaging than the last, which is precisely what has happened with .
Directed by Irish film-maker David Freyne, who made the excellent , and co-written by Freyne and Pat Cunnane, is joyful, funny, and moving as it takes a brilliantly inventive approach to the after-life.
The film opens with Joan (Betty Buckley) and her husband, Larry (Barry Primus), a couple in their 80s, driving and bickering, as they have for the last 60-odd years. Joan has cancer, Larry is as fit as a fiddle, but he falls foul of a pretzel and chokes to death.
Larry is stunned when he wakes up on a train full of equally confused passengers. He can’t figure out why his body has transformed into how he looked in his 30s, with Miles Teller now playing the part, and he doesn’t understand where all the aches from his 80-year-old body have gone. It takes Larry time to realise he is dead.
Whatever he thought the after-life would look like, this sure isn’t it. It is jam-packed with people rushing about like it’s Kent Station on a bank holiday weekend.
Amidst the chaos, Larry meets his after-life coordinator, brilliantly played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who helps the newly deceased choose their eternity.
Each person has seven days to choose. There are salespeople at every turn, pitching to prospective clients.
Larry would be quite happy to chill on the beach forever, but how can he be sure Joan will choose the same eternity?
Luckily for Larry, not so much for Joan, now played by Elizabeth Olsen, cancer gets the better of her, and she arrives in the after-life, looking exactly as she did 60 years ago.
Larry is ecstatic. Joan seems relieved to see him until a 6-foot-tall Hollywood-esque heart-throb arrives on the scene to throw a giant spanner in the works.
Standing before Joan is Luke (Callam Turner), her handsome first husband, who died in combat during the Korean War. They had a brief but beautiful relationship, and his love for Joan was so great that, instead of choosing an eternity without her, Luke waited 60-something years in the train station to reunite with her and choose their eternity together.
Joan is completely overwhelmed. How can she choose between the man she spent a lifetime with and the man who was cruelly ripped away from her at such a young age?
Larry assumes Joan will want to spend eternity with him, after all, they spent more than 60 years together when they were alive and raised a family.
Luke, on the other hand, thinks he is a shoo-in. He and Joan didn’t get much time on earth; now is their chance.
In deference to the unusual situation, the powers-that-be offer Joan the chance to spend some time with each of her loves before making her final decision, but how will she choose who to spend eternity with?
has a gorgeous, classic Hollywood romantic-comedy vibe, enhanced by Freyne’s 1950s/’60s aesthetic and a trio of actors who not only resemble classic stars but also perform as though they stepped out of a Cary Grant film.
Just because it feels classic doesn’t make it old-fashioned. The commercialisation of the after-life, the way that vendors relentlessly pitch their eternities, is a clever nod to today’s persistent capitalism.
Freyne uses a clever device to show flashbacks, which is highly original and moving, and ensures that will make you laugh and cry.
A little long, but I didn’t mind; it was a pleasure to spend time in this particular .
