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This year, as we’ve faced a global pandemic, injustice, riots, and general unrest and upheaval, more and more people have started opening up about their struggle with mental health. More films seem to have tackled the topic, too. And in Eternal Beauty, the struggle with mental health is portrayed with both tenderness and humor.
Eternal Beauty stars Sally Hawkins as Jane, a former pageant queen who suffered a breakdown years ago, after she was left at the altar. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Jane has good days and bad days. She struggles with her relationship with her sisters and her disapproving mother (Penelope Wilton). She’s haunted by voices and visions and memories of lost love. But when she falls in love with struggling musician Mike (David Thewlis), she thinks that her whole troubled life might finally start to turn around.
Through its random timeline, its snippets of stories, and its overall obscurity, Eternal Beauty offers just a glimpse of what it’s like to be someone like Jane. It’s haphazard and disorienting, skipping around to tell parts of stories that may or may not be imagined. Of course, that doesn’t make it an easy film to watch. You’ll never feel entirely sure of what’s really going on, which makes for an unsettling—and sometimes even frustrating—experience. But it also makes the film feel honest and authentic.
In the midst of all of the confusion and haziness, though, Hawkins is a clear, shining light. Her performance is truly remarkable, capturing the fears, the struggles, the pain, and the longings of this fascinating character. While the film itself, with its family drama and romantic misfortunes, can sometimes feel like a confusing blur of activity, Jane is its constant: this sweet, tortured, and delightfully quirky woman. Hawkins makes her character come to life on the screen in a way that’s equal parts humorous and heartbreaking. And as you experience the highs and lows, the moments of confusion and the moments of clarity, you’ll get a better understanding of what it could be like to live with this often debilitating disorder.
Eternal Beauty is definitely a challenging film, but it feels real—like a confusing but candid look at paranoid schizophrenia. It has its ups and downs, its drama and its laughs. But at the center of it all is one captivating performance by a talented star, and that alone makes it worth checking out.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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