The closing night film of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival was an homage to films of the 80s and 90s, romantic comedies like “Notting Hill,” written by Patrick Cunnane (his first feature screenplay) and Director David Freyne (“Dating Amber,” 2020). During the Q&A onstage following the showing on October 26th, Trevor White, a producer who works with his brother, Tim, talked about the film that the audience had just enjoyed.

PLOT

“In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen)is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life (65 years) with (Miles Teller, “Whiplash,” 2024, “The Gorge,” 2025) and her first love Luke (Callum Turner, “The Boys in the Boat,” 2023; “Masters of the Air,” 2024) who died young and has waited 67 years for her to arrive. [It reminded me of the Albert Brooks/Meryl Streep vehicle “Defending Your Life” (1991).]

Guided by an After Life Coordinator (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar winner for “The Holdovers”), they have just one week to confront the ultimate dilemma: where and with whom to spend eternity.” Da’Vine and fellow ALC afterlife coordinator Ryan (John Early) are hilarious in their roles and add much to the film. So does a neighbor of Joan and Larry’s, Karen (Olga Merediz). These supporting cast members get high marks for humor.

GENESIS

Director David Freyne of “Eternity.”

Screenwriter Patrick Cunnane, who is the son of Congresswoman Madeline Dean, met Producer Trevor White (and Tim, his brother and production partner) at the White House where Cunnane was then working as a member of the White House speechwriting staff (the East Wing was intact then. Yay!). This fortuitous meeting propelled “Eternity” forward. The  addition of Director David Freyne (co-credited as writer)  was also serendipity. Cunnane said, “When David came on, everything went to the next level. David had a clear vision of the afterlife…It could have looked 110 different ways…I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way this turned out. It is better than I imagined it in my head.” (This is not what many screenwriters say, so give this production a Gold Star for being a happy set. It was also better than I imagined it would be, which is a recommendation for audiences to check it out.)

IMAGINING THE AFTER-LIFE

This was Freyne’s third movie and his third with Elizabeth Olsen. A corkboard outside his office led to creative suggestions for how the afterlife might appear. Since the idea was to blend romance with comedy, emulating the rom-coms of old (“That was the North Star for this movie”), some of the ideas added to the corkboard during production caused the duo to admit to the audience’s amusement, “Some were very funny and probably not appropriate for PG13.” The screenplay was on Hollywood’s Black List of the Best Unproduced Films since 2022, so its potential was recognized.

CREW

That potential was turned into reality by the expert work of Production Designer Zazu Myers (“My Old Ass,” 2024) and Cinematographer Ruairi O’Brien (“Dating Amber,” 2020; “Sea Fever,” 2019). The composer was David Fleming (“Superman,” 2025; “The Last of Us,” 2023) and the Costume Designer was Angus Strathie. (Edith Head he was not; the red-and-white checked outfits for Joan’s character and the gold-striped shirt worn by Miles Teller in the same scene did not enhance the constant remarks about how attractive the lovely Elizabeth Olsen looked, from each of her husbands. For that matter, how many of us would vote for Miles Teller as the more attractive husband of the two? But I’ll leave that plot point open to viewers, while admitting that, in terms of attractiveness–which is emphasized in the script—they could have flipped the parts, for me, but might have lost Teller’s flip finesse with humorous lines, his forte.)

SCREENPLAY

Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner in “Eternity,” the closing night picture for the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.

“Eternity” goes from Chicago to Austin’s Film Festival next, where it will be a Spotlight film. Austin is known as a screenwriter’s festival and the screenplay is very good. I particularly enjoyed the digs at the Korean War (not one of the “cool” ones) and lines like, “We can go to space for eternity, for all I care as long as Luke (husband #1) is not floating around,” from Larry (Husband #2).

HEAVEN?

The various iterations of the afterlife are presented like a giant convention, with scads of brochures about spending your after-life in 1930s Germany, but with 100% fewer Nazis; Parisland 55 (where they speak English, but with a French accent); or Infantilization World. There’s even a run on eternities where there are no men, but it filled up fast and a second similar eternity was under construction. All of the throw-away lines/ concepts were very clever.

RELATIONSHIPS

Screenwriter Patrick Cunnane and Producer Trevor White of “Eternity” at the Q&A, closing night of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.

The opening scenes of “old” Larry and “old” Joan driving to a gender reveal party were charming and realistic. Betty Buckley, now 78 years young, played Dr. Karen Fletcher in 2016’s “Split.” I’ve missed her. Barry Primus (2013’s “Grudge Match”) portrayed old Larry. Their bickering is characteristic of marriages that have endured for decades (67 years). I can personally attest to this. The relationship question of this film is intensified when the real question is how you would choose a mate for eternity if your family were a love triangle.

CONCLUSION

The screenwriter freely admitted to stealing real-life stories from his elderly parents’ lives (the flat tire story). Cunnane shared a touching story of his mother, on-set watching the film while it was shooting, breaking down in tears when one  episode unfolded.

That says it all: there are real-life lessons about family and its importance in this one, much as there were  real-life lessons about important people in your life in the George Clooney vehicle “Jay Kelly.” Life without someone special can be hollow. But who will Joan choose to spend eternity with—and which of the hilarious afterlife options will win out? Check out “Eternity” in November to find out.