Eternal Return

Visually innovative and intoxicatingly romantic, this fantasy drama from writer-director Yaniv Raz (Dr. Bird’s Advice For Sad Poets) stars Naomi Scott (Aladdin), Kit Harington (Game of Thrones), and Simon Callow (Four Weddings and a Funeral) as an adventurous trio charting a journey back through time in search of the power to love again.

Following the tragic death of her partner, Cass (Scott) feels her heart has shuttered. The possibility of it opening again arises when she meets Virgil (Harington), an eccentric but endearing cartographer, and his wise old friend Malcolm (Callow). These two have been developing a way to map places and memories and then carve through time and space, allowing anyone to re-enter a moment from their past. Cass, they realize, is the perfect subject for their bold experiment.

Cast against type as an awkward man of maps, Harington is effortlessly charming, while Scott exudes a winsome balance of innocence and woundedness and veteran actor Callow lends gravitas to this deceptively whimsical tale. Working with a stylistic palette that recalls the delights of Amélie, Raz keeps the ambiance buoyant, playful, and spectacular. Eternal Return reminds us that, as we look back to the past for guidance and knowledge, our capacity for love depends, above all, in our being fully in the present moment.

ROBYN CITIZEN

Content advisory: self-harm references, coarse language, sexually-suggestive scenes, mature themes