Eternal Love

* NOTE: There are some minor SPOILERS for Eternals that follow.

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Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund. Westley and Buttercup. Rose Dewitt Bukater and Jack Dawson. Elio and Oliver. Elisa Esposito and... Amphibian Man? For over a century, movies have featured some of the greatest love stories ever told. Sometimes, they're the core of a film, other times they're a side-plot. Regardless, when done right, a romance in a movie can be sweeping in its ability to lift -- or even deflate -- our emotions. I'd like to add another set of names of to the aforementioned couples: Thena and Gilgamesh.

The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Eternals, was released last week, and people have had a lot to say about it. It's a beautiful and frustrating, concentrated and sprawling, quiet and loud, subtle and blunt mess of a movie that I'm still not sure how I feel about (I gave it 5.5 out of 10 on our Mashley at the Movies review, though that's just a number). One aspect of the movie that I can be certain about -- something that I noticed while the film was unfolding on the screen before me -- is how much I adore the deftly-handled relationship between Gilgamesh (played by Don Lee) and Thena (Angelina Jolie).

Certain corners of the press have talked about how Thena suffers from a form of dementia, and the devotion to helping her that Gilgamesh displays. At one point, in Earth's distant past, Ajak (Salma Hayek), leader of the Eternals, threatens to wipe Thena's mind in order to save her from the debilitating mental disease from which she suffers. Gilgamesh steps in and says that, as an alternative, he will go with Thena and watch over her, doing his best to keep the illness at bay. And, for centuries, it works. We later see that the two have developed a sort of system. Whenever Thena has an episode coming on, Gilgamesh will ask for their hands to touch, and he will talk with her and, eventually, things will be okay.

Much is made during the two-hour-and-thirty-seven-minute runtime of Eternals about the on-again/off-again relationship between Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Ikaris (Richard Madden). We are presented with furtive, almost high school-like looks between the two, direct dialogue where Ajak suggests Ikaris tell Sersi how he feels about her, a love-making scene (a first for the MCU), and even a wedding between the two. Then, we are shown the after-effects of their falling out. Likewise, we are treated to the MCU's first overt LGBT+ characters, with Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) in a same-sex relationship. And, finally, there's Sprite (Lia McHugh) who has long-pined for Ikaris (something which becomes a pivotal plot point later in the story).

All of the aforementioned soapy elements are fine, I suppose, but they are, if we're being honest, handled with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. And that's ok. But I am kind of partial to the more finely-tuned, unspoken love that Gilgamesh has for Thena (it's not clear if it's reciprocated). Granted, their relationship is not spelled-out for us like the other ones are, so it is open to interpretation. It could simply be looked upon as a deep friendship (and friendships certainly encompass love), but... I dunno. It seems like Gilgamesh feels something more than friendship for Thena. I think he loves her, deeply. And the fact that it isn't spelled-out makes me appreciate that aspect of the movie even more.