I love a good high-concept romantic comedy. In fact, one of my favorite films from last year was David Freyne's Eternity (2025), which also starred Callum Turner. No matter how unrealistic the central idea is, I'm willing to buy into almost anything if the film puts in the work to establish its rules and commits to them. What loses me is when a movie introduces an intriguing concept only to abandon it halfway through. William Bridges' All of You (2024), for instance, began with a fascinating sci-fi hook before turning into a fairly conventional romance. Going into Will Gluck's One Night Only, I was worried it would make the same mistake.

David Freyne’s Eternity is one of the most creative and thought-provoking romance films in recent memory. It boasts an inventive premise involving the afterlife that feels evocative of films such as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Albert Brooks’ Defending Your Life (1991), and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After Life (1998), yet Freyne and co-writer Pat Cunnane’s screenplay still feels refreshingly original.