Eternity

In the afterlife Joan is forced to decide which of her two deceased husbands will accompany her for eternity. She spends separate “eternities” with each man, tasting the possibilities and confronting what each relationship truly means. The experience leaves her more bewildered than before, especially when she learns that Larry had prepared a letter meant to sway her toward his version of forever. The revelation that he may have been trying to steer her choice, combined with the weight of her friend’s drunken encouragement, pushes her to a breaking point.

Instead of proclaiming “I choose me,” Joan declares that she chooses neither husband. The line is less a triumph of independence than a self‑imposed compromise: she cannot bear to see either man heart‑broken, so she lets both down by refusing both offers. This decision is born of compassion rather than certainty about her own future.

A subtle clue lies in Joan’s hair. With Larry she always wore it short, a visual reminder that she never felt fully content during their life together. In the afterlife her hair is long, echoing the brief period she spent with Luke when she was happiest. The film suggests that a soul’s appearance reflects the state of its greatest joy, hinting that Joan’s true happiness was tied to the fleeting moment with Luke, not to any lasting domesticity with Larry.

When Joan attempts to leave the eternities arranged for her, Luke—who has been waiting for 67 years—helps her escape the mountain‑bound eternity he once shared with her. He realizes that their love, though powerful, was essentially a honeymoon that never matured, and that forcing them together would only trap them in an illusion. With Luke’s reluctant blessing, Joan returns to the archive where Larry now works as a bartender. There, she discovers that the ordinary, familiar life she shared with Larry feels like home, even if it lacks the ecstatic spark she once felt with Luke.

The film closes on the notion that eternity is less about perpetual bliss and more about the honest accumulation of both joy and sorrow. Joan’s ultimate choice—to stay with Larry in a modest, shared afterlife—underscores the message that ordinary, steady love can be the most enduring of all.

Last Updated: December 10, 2025 at 15:52