ETERNAL BEAUTY Film Review — An Unlikely Superhero

ETERNAL BEAUTY Tells of a Unique Superpower

Jane sits at a picnic table with her sister. Her tan coat matches the dry grass; her sister’s red jacket matches their fruit punch.

“You don’t want to be normal. Trust me,” says her sister.

“Sometimes I do,” says Jane, “But most of the time, I like being this powerful.”

Jane’s story is not tragic, in this writer’s view, despite some intensely distressing circumstances. Her character is defined by perseverance, wisdom, and even humor. She dances on the bed and gives a show stopping rendition of I Will Survive. On Christmas, she arrives at her parents’ house with all of her own presents, handing each relative a receipt and thanking them for somehow knowing exactly what she wanted. However, constantly interrupting these quirky moments are ominous phone calls from a mystery man and beams of light coming through the walls.

Jane’s story shows the human side of paranoid schizophrenia; she goes through heartbreaks, failures, and triumphs—just like the rest of us. Her mind simply works in a different way, which sometimes makes her uniquely insightful. Eternal Beauty will interest anyone looking for a unique and complicated take on a much-stereotyped condition, one that emphasizes the character’s humanity over all.