Aahana Swrup
In the afterlife drama film ‘Eternity,’ Joan faces an impossible dilemma after her death when she’s confronted with both her young love and the man she grew old with. After a long, fruitful life, Joan dies and arrives in the afterlife, which begins with a train junction, where each new soul gets to stick around for a week before choosing their ultimate destination for Eternity. However, this daunting decision is infinitely more difficult for Joan than most. As it turns out, her husband, Larry, who died a week before her, is not the only one waiting for her at the Junction. Her first husband, Luke, who got to build a short but happy life with her before dying in the war, has been waiting around for her for 67 years. As a result, before she can decide on how to spend the rest of her existence, she must first decide who to spend it with: the love of her mortal life or the love who was taken from her too soon? SPOILERS AHEAD!
Joan Refuses to Choose Between Larry and Luke
From the moment Joan arrives at the afterlife junction, things take an unexpectedly chaotic turn. While she may have been expecting to see her husband, Larry, the man with whom she built a full life, she never expected to be reunited with her first husband, Luke, as well. However, the latter has been waiting 67 years at the Junction for her, refraining from picking his own Eternity until his wife joins him in the afterlife. Naturally, this creates some prominent complications. Both Larry and Luke have spent the time since their death expecting to start the rest of their existence with Joan by their side. For the same reason, they’re both blindsided to realize that they might have to battle another man for their wife’s love.
When proposed the idea of simply choosing an eternity as a trio so that they can simultaneously remain in Joan’s orbit, both are opposed to the idea. As a result, it really becomes a point of competition between Joan’s two husbands. Fortunately, Ryan and Anna, the Afterlife Co-ordinators, are able to propose a possible solution. Usually, entering an eternity is an irreversible act, the breach of which is punishable by Eternity in the Void. However, they manage to get special “visas” for the trio. This means both Larry and Luke can show Joan around their preferred choice of Eternity so that the latter can make an informed decision. Although both these trips have their own pros and cons, with Luke offering novelty and Larry the comfort of memories, it still remains an impossible decision for their wife.
If Joan picks her first husband, she would be proving to Larry that he never lived up to the other man and was only ever a consolation prize. On the other hand, choosing her second husband would be overlooking Luke’s love and commitment. Worst of all, both decisions would ensure that she would be breaking her own heart. Joan comes to this same realization after an unproductive and boozy night out with her best friend, Karen. For the same reason, she decides to make an unexpected choice. In the aftermath of the “eternity-off,” Joan chooses neither Larry nor Luke. She would rather lose both loves of her life than go through the heartbreaking process of picking one over the other. Therefore, she decides to go to Paris Eternity with her best friend Karen.
Larry Encourages Joan to Spend Her Eternity With Luke
After Joan makes her decision, she sets off to the train to Paris Eternity with Karen. Meanwhile, both Larry and Luke decide to pay a visit to the Junction bar, ready to drown their sorrows at the bottom of a glass. During this time, they get to talking about their current physical appearances, which match up with their happiest moments on Earth. Unsurprisingly, their wife is in some way connected to both their happiest memories. This leads Larry to a surprising realization. From the get-go, Joan has had long hair since she entered the afterlife. However, she never had long hair on Earth, at least not since Larry had known her. Consequently, he realizes that his wife’s happiest memory from Earth was one when she was with her first husband.
Each soul’s physical appearance is something out of their control. Everyone simply takes on the form of their past selves when they were their happiest selves. As such, even if Joan doesn’t realize it, the afterlife has indirectly told her that she was happiest when she was with Luke, her first husband. Unfortunately, she never got to explore where that happiness could lead due to his untimely death. This revelation makes Larry realize the depth of the loss his wife suffered after Luke’s death. He finally understands what was taken from Joan and the kind of shot at happiness that she had with her first husband. For the same reason, he ends up chasing her down to the train station to share the same information with her. Moreover, he encourages her to choose this unexplored wealth of happiness with Luke, unwilling to let her live an afterlife of regret.
Joan Realizes She’s Meant to be With Larry and Breaks the Rules to be With Him
In the aftermath of Joan’s conversation with Larry at the train station, she decides to take his advice and choose an eternity with Luke. The couple goes on to live in Mountain Eternity, where they own a cabin in the woods, go on hikes, and meet new people every day. As such, they get to live out the life that was robbed from them after Luke’s death on Earth. However, through it all, Joan finds herself repeatedly returning to the Memory Archives tunnel, where she looks through her life with Larry, reliving each of their happiest moments. Although she tries to put up a facade for her current partner to ensure he doesn’t feel slighted, it can only last for so long. Soon enough, her first husband confronts her about her evident unhappiness and consistent visits to the Memory Archives.
As a result, Joan has no choice but to admit that she has made a huge mistake. She realizes that her true heaven is with Larry instead of Luke. She may have been at her happiest with the latter, when she was young and in love without the weight of other things like kids, mortgage, and grief hanging over her. However, she built a lifetime of small happy moments with her second husband. The fact that he made the ultimate sacrifice by encouraging her to go after her happiness at the cost of his own just further proves the weight of his devotion to her. Even though Luke is hurt by this declaration, he accepts his wife’s decision and even agrees to help her in her scheme to sneak out of the Mountain Eternity.
In the end, Joan finds herself back in the Junction, but this time as a fugitive. Fortunately, with Ryan and Anna’s help, she’s able to find Larry. As it turns out, after her departure, he decided to stay back in the Junction, taking over Luke’s former profession as the bartender. Even if he’s surprised to see Joan’s return, he’s as eager as ever to become a fugitive right alongside her if it means they can be together. Ultimately, the couple finds a happy ending inside one of the decommissioned eternities, The Simple Eternity. The abandoned nature of the Eternity might put the authorities off from pursuing the couple. Even so, their decision to take the risk of the Void just to be together becomes another testament to their eternal love for one another.
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