Eternity Ending Explained By Director

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Eternity (2025)!Eternity director David Freyne explains Joan’s decision at the end of the fantasy rom-com. Elizabeth Olsen stars as Joan in Eternity, which sees her character given one week to decide who she wants to spend her afterlife with: Luke (Callum Turner), her first husband who died in the Korean War, or Larry (Miles Teller), with whom she built a life.

Near the end of the film, Joan seemingly chooses to be with Luke, the pair embarking to a small cabin to spend the rest of forever together. However, she soon realizes she regrets her choice, blinded by the irresponsibility of young love. She manages to reunite with Larry, choosing to be with him, the pair settling down in a suburb.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley for Eternity, Freyne explained what it meant for Joan to choose Larry, emphasizing that their “happily ever after” could eventually be reversed somewhere down the line. But, in terms of the film’s events, Joan makes the choice she feels is right, despite the life she could have had with Luke instead:

Liam Crowley: When they go off, Joan and Larry at the end, is it truly happy after they’re going to be running for the rest of their life?
David Freyne: I mean, that’s the thing. Romcoms always end with a happily ever after, and if you continue that, they’ll get into trouble again. That’s the cycle of life. I think they’ll be doing dishes in another 20 years time and she’ll be like, ‘I should have stayed Luke.’ That’s just the nature of life. We’re always plagued by what ifs, but yeah, it is a happy ever after. We walk into the sunset and that’s what you want. I hope the ending is never expected, but I do hope it feels right. She chose the love that represents who she is now and that is Larry.
Liam Crowley: Do you think Luke has found happiness as well?
David Freyne: I think Luke’s having a great time. I think he’s working his way through Winter Wonderland. He’s fine.

The romantic comedy movie ends on a positive note, now that Joan and Larry have one another for the rest of their afterlives. However, Joan broke the rules of the afterlife in order to get back to him, going into purgatory just to find him again. This upsets the balance of the rules, signifying they may need to keep running forever.

Luckily, Freyne sees their time together in Eternity as a mostly positive endeavor. While Joan could possibly think back on her decision in the future, the movie emphasizes how the risks she took makes it unlikely she’s going to feel that way. Given the lengths she went through for Larry, it seems unlikely their relationship ends.

His response also clarifies that, despite how much Luke had been a core part of her life for so long, she needed to stick with the happiness she built with Larry for decades. Freyne’s statement also makes the ending less tragic for her first love, whose “Winter Wonderland” adventure appears to be continuing happily without her involvement.

Even with the threat of a happy ending reversing decades down the line, it seems like Joan made the right choice by the end of Eternity. Her decision to be with Larry emphasizes how she’s put aside her longing for the past for what makes the most sense, not giving up on the life they built together after it ended.