--- title: "Eternals" year: 2021 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/eternals" fi1m_score: 57 critics_score: 56 critics_reviews: 24 published: "2026-09-19T12:23:42.701153+00:00" updated: "2026-09-19T12:23:54.430060+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Eternals (2021) Directed by Chloé Zhao · 2h 36m · MPA PG-13 · Science Fiction, Action, Adventure **Fi1m score: 57** · Critics 56 from 24 reviews *In a sentence:* Seven thousand years on Earth and the gods still need a briefing before every fight > Chloé Zhao’s Marvel film puts ten immortals under a low sun and looks unlike anything else the studio has made. It also stops every ten minutes to explain itself, and its monsters are not worth the flight. Jolie and Ma Dong-seok are. ## Synopsis Seven thousand years ago ten immortal Eternals are sent to Earth by the Celestial Arishem to protect humans from the Deviants, creatures that hunt them. The job done, they scatter and wait. In present-day London, Sersi (Gemma Chan) works at a museum, shares a flat with the ageless child Sprite (Lia McHugh) and is seeing Dane Whitman (Kit Harington), who does not know what she is. Then a Deviant, supposedly extinct, attacks, and Ikaris (Richard Madden), who left Sersi centuries ago, drops from the sky to fight it. The three set out to gather the others: Ajak (Salma Hayek) in South Dakota, Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), now a Bollywood star in Mumbai, Thena (Angelina Jolie) and Gilgamesh (Ma Dong-seok) in the outback, and Druig (Barry Keoghan) in the Amazon. ## Review Chloé Zhao, whose last film was *Nomadland*, has been given ten immortals, a god the size of a planet and 156 minutes to introduce them all. The script, by Zhao with Patrick Burleigh, Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo, has to explain who these people are, what they can do, why they have not spoken for centuries and who sent them, and it spends most of its length doing exactly that. *Eternals* is among the handsomest films Marvel has released and one of the most tiring. We came out admiring a good deal of it and relieved to be outside. Start with what Zhao and her cinematographer Ben Davis get right, which is the light. Much of the film is shot outdoors near dusk, and the effect on a superhero film is odd and welcome: gods standing in long grass with the sun going down behind them, a black ship parked on a beach, Sersi and Ikaris in a desert that looks like a desert and not a green screen. Eve Stewart’s Domo, the Eternals’ ship, is a dark wedge of stone and metal with gold script floating in the air inside it, and Sammy Sheldon dresses the ten in fitted dark uniforms with gold lines running through them, so that when they stand together in Babylon they look like a set of chess pieces. Little else Marvel has made looks like this. The cast is better than the film. Ma Dong-seok plays Gilgamesh as a big, gentle cook who has spent centuries in the Australian outback looking after Angelina Jolie’s Thena, a warrior whose mind slips so that she sometimes forgets who he is and comes at him with a blade. Their scenes are the best in the film, a man in an apron and a woman who occasionally tries to kill him, and they moved us more than we expected, because Zhao lets them sit at a table and eat. Kumail Nanjiani has the most fun, playing Kingo as a Bollywood star who has hidden in plain sight for a century by pretending to be his own son and grandson, and who brings his valet along to film the reunion. Barry Keoghan’s Druig sulks handsomely in the Amazon. Brian Tyree Henry gives Phastos, an inventor with a husband and small son in Chicago, more weight than his lines contain. The trouble is that every one of those meetings is a briefing. The film is a road trip with stops: fly somewhere, find an Eternal, tell them what has happened, cut to a flashback that tells us what happened before, fly on. Craig Wood and Dylan Tichenor keep the past and the present clear, which is no small job across seven thousand years, but they cannot make a scene move when its only purpose is to state a rule. Somewhere in the second hour we caught ourselves counting how many Eternals were still to be collected, and we were bored, which is not a thing we expected from a film with this many gods in it. The Deviants are the other problem. They are dark, sinewy things, all tendons and cables, and they look like effects rather than animals; not one has a face or a habit we could describe an hour later. A film about gods sent to kill monsters needs monsters worth the trip, and these are not, so the fights are the flattest thing in it. Ramin Djawadi scores them with a choir and a rising drone, mournful rather than thrilling, which suits Zhao’s tone and does nothing for the action. Against Marvel’s own habits this is a stranger and more serious film than the studio usually allows, with the jokes mostly handed to Nanjiani and the rest of the cast permitted to look sad. That is welcome. It then reaches, in its last stretch, for the same kind of ending every one of these films reaches for, and the seriousness has not bought it anything. Against *Nomadland* it is a film that keeps forgetting what Zhao does best, which is to leave people alone in a landscape and watch, because there is always another explanation due. It runs 156 minutes and carries a 12A. See it for Jolie and Ma, for Nanjiani, and for the light. See it at home, where you can pause during the third briefing and make a cup of tea; the film will be explaining the same thing when you get back. *Fi1m score 57, published 19 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (24) - **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (4/4/4): Zhao remixes the MCU with an ethereal, philosophical take; the good outweighs rough edges and misjudged scenes, creating a lugubrious, melancholy epic without triumphalism. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/eternals) - **Radio Times**, Hanna Flint (4/5): Zhao brings epic poetry and soulful, intimate storytelling to the MCU, balancing spectacular set pieces with naturalistic approach, making it the series' most emotional outing. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-qzeudj/eternals/) - **Total Film** (80/100, inferred): Chloé Zhao delivers a Marvel film of epic scale and ambition that blends Kirby's cosmic imagination with a pensive soulfulness, tackling existential themes and environmental concerns in a way that gives the MCU a needed kick while evoking comparisons to Dune. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/eternals-review-marvel/) - **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★★★☆☆): Zhao lands flashes of intrigue in backstories, some giggles and the sense of an eccentric folly snuck into the multiplex despite the high stakes of a Marvel blockbuster. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/df8a30de-430e-4479-82a7-4244051fa303) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (70/100, inferred): The critic finds it a soulful variation on the superhero template that feels more alive in quieter moments due to its focus on character and emotional texture, though action is routine. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/eternals-marvel-1235035471/) - **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (70/100, inferred): Zhao crafts a fluid, visually elegant team superhero movie with humane interplay and beautiful effects, though it remains too conventional and lengthy. It ranks in the solid second tier of such films but lacks the director's distinctive poetic edge. [Read](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/eternals-review-chloe-zhao-gemma-chan-salma-hayek-1235093219/) - **Empire**, John Nugent (65/100, inferred): Chloé Zhao brings prestige and visual authorship to the MCU on a cosmic scale with ambitious storytelling and some refreshing elements, but the film remains constrained by superhero clichés, generic dialogue, and an inability to fully escape formula despite its epic scope. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/eternals/) - **The Independent**, Mark Kennedy (2.5/4): The film packs in many MCU firsts around diversity and representation but feels overstuffed and struggles under its epic scope and repetitive action. It is mostly saved by Kumail Nanjiani's humorous performance amid stilted dialogue and formulaic elements. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/chloe-zhao-kumail-nanjiani-eternals-earth-mother-b1951589.html) - **Screen Daily** (60/100, inferred): Marvel introduces new superheroes in a tonally ambitious, more mature picture with strong performances and stirring moments, but it is loaded with oversized action spectacle and struggles to differentiate from previous MCU entries. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/eternals-review/5164387.article) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (60/100, inferred): Zhao strives to infuse the sprawling Marvel spectacle with human scale and sincerity through its performances and heartfelt moments. The effort largely fails against the overwhelming industrial machinery of the franchise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/04/movies/eternals-review.html) - **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (50/100, inferred): The film starts with fresh, philosophical elements and Zhao's signature touches on nature and domesticity but devolves into standard Marvel team-up tropes and corporate constraints. It is one of the more interesting MCU entries yet the least interesting Zhao film. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-10-24/eternals-review-marvel-chloe-zhao) - **Sight and Sound**, Guy Lodge (40/100, inferred): The critic finds Eternals the strangest Marvel film due to its tension between Zhao's style and corporate constraints, but criticizes unconvincing CGI and a disorganised, overstuffed script that lacks nuance. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/eternals-strangest-marvel-film-date) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film underpowered and uncertain despite welcome diversity and a few nice touches. Zhao's socio-realist style fails to inject enough brash humour or energy into the Marvel formula. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/nov/04/eternals-review-chloe-zhaos-indie-nuance-cant-power-the-marvel-machine) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (30/100, inferred): Zhao's attempt to blend her humanistic style with Marvel's constraints results in a talky, expository film that delivers neither substance nor style. The characters remain detached and the action generic despite on-location shooting. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/eternals-reviewed-chloe-zhaos-lifeless-marvel-movie) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (30/100, inferred): The script is derivative, messy and undernourished, turning the Eternals into navel-gazing elitists spouting platitudes rather than delivering dramatic ingenuity. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/eternals-review-navel-gazing-superheroes-in-quest-for-a-decent-script-tcpw272pd) - **Time Out**, Olly Richards (30/100, inferred): Zhao's attempt to make the MCU more thoughtful results in an over-stuffed and underpowered film that is neither particularly profound nor entertaining, though it improves in the final half-hour. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/eternals-2021) - **Vulture**, Angelica Jade Bastién (30/100, inferred): The critic sees it as a vacuum-sealed film that fails to make its star-studded cast shine or evoke care for the characters, marked by emptiness and lack of interiority. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/eternals-movie-review-chloe-zhao-marvel-film.html) - **The Telegraph** (10/100, inferred): The film is described as an insipid gallumphing superhero snooze and instant white elephant despite attempts at boundary-pushing elements like diversity and a sex scene. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2021/10/24/eternals-review-marvel-attempts-push-boundaries-result-insipid/) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (70/100, inferred): Zhao successfully balances the massive MCU spectacle with a strong emphasis on the human and emotional sides of the new team of immortals. The diverse cast and character-driven approach stand out as particularly effective. [Read](https://deadline.com/video/eternals-review-marvels-latest-superhero-team-takes-on-refreshing-new-directions-for-the-mcu-thanks-to-oscar-winner-chloe-zhao/) - **Den of Geek**, Don Kaye (3.5 out of 5): The critic notes that Eternals pushes the MCU in new directions with risks and a focus on humanity and intimacy from Zhao and the cast, but finds parts slow and inert with perfunctory action sequences. Character development and relationships stand out as the strongest elements. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/eternals-review-chloe-zhao-marvel-movie/) - **NME**, Nick Levine (4): The critic highlights the soulful and melancholy tone replacing typical Marvel quips, along with ambitious world-building across history and strong inclusivity. Visuals are frequently stunning, though some cast members are underused and CGI is occasionally ropey. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/eternals-review-marvel-cinematic-universe-3078797) - **The Wrap** (70/100, inferred): Chloé Zhao delivers a qualified success by infusing the epic with her signature attentiveness to beauty, intimacy, and character bonds across centuries. The lingering shots and compassionate focus on the ensemble within the cosmic scale are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/eternals-film-review-mcu-chloe-zhao-angelina-jolie/) - **/Film**, Hoai-Tran Bui (6.5/10): The film is a mixed bag: ambitious and majestic with Zhao's grand vision, but tonally uneven and diluted by studio constraints. It praises the director's elegance and the cast's vulnerability and care for their characters. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/641297/eternals-review-a-wildly-ambitious-but-tonally-uneven-cosmic-epic/) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (C+): The critic finds Eternals a frustrating film because its ambitious character stories and big ideas about immortality and humanity are squeezed into the constraints of a standard Marvel superhero narrative that prioritizes action and world-saving over depth. He singles out the abbreviated relationships and inner conflicts of the Eternals for praise as potentially fascinating but ultimately underdeveloped. [Read](https://collider.com/eternals-review-marvel-mcu/) ## Details - **Director:** Chloé Zhao - **Director:** Chloé Zhao - **Screenplay:** Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo, Chloé Zhao - **Cinematography:** Ben Davis - **Editor:** Craig Wood, Dylan Tichenor - **Music:** Ramin Djawadi - **Production design:** Eve Stewart - **Costume design:** Sammy Sheldon - **Producer:** Nate Moore, Kevin Feige - **Cast:** Gemma Chan as Sersi; Richard Madden as Ikaris; Angelina Jolie as Thena; Salma Hayek as Ajak; Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo; Lia McHugh as Sprite; Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos; Lauren Ridloff as Makkari - **Runtime:** 2h 36m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13 - **Release (the US):** 5 November 2021 - **Genres:** Science Fiction, Action, Adventure - **Budget:** $200 million - **Box office:** $402 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_me3xsvDgk ## Where to watch in the US - Disney+: streaming, uhd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy $19.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-19.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Nomadland* (2020): Zhao’s previous film, where the low sun and the waiting are the whole point - *Wings of Desire* (1987), Fi1m 88: Immortals watching Berlin for centuries and one of them deciding to come down — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire.md) - *The Fountain* (2006): Love and death across a thousand years, told in ninety-odd minutes - *Highlander* (1986), Fi1m 75: Immortals fighting through history with far less explaining and a better villain — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/highlander.md) - *Watchmen* (2009): A team of tired gods who have stopped liking each other or us --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/eternals