Review: Eternal Code

The promise of living forever has long occupied the imagination of science fiction, but in Harley Wallen’s Eternal Code, it becomes a question of who can afford to escape death and what they might be willing to sacrifice to achieve it. Built around a breakthrough in genetic research, the film weaves human greed and the seemingly unattainable pursuit of immortality into an independent thriller.

The narrative begins with a plot that belongs to the familiar territory of science fiction. A genetic research company develops a technology capable of transferring human consciousness into new bodies, offering the wealthy and powerful a possible escape from death. But the prospect of immortality soon becomes entangled with corporate ambition and moral compromise. 

When Bridget Pellegrini (Kristanna Loken), the company’s chief executive, refuses to approve a merger that threatens the ethical foundations of her research, she and her husband are abducted. Their teenage daughter, Miranda, finds herself relying on two unlikely companions, a troubled military veteran and a young woman hardened by life on the streets, to rescue her parents and expose the forces behind the technology.

The film's opening stretch has an almost disarming buoyancy and confidence. Wallen takes his time familiarising us with the characters and their surroundings, creating a domestic warmth that seems at odds with the danger awaiting them. The subsequent shift into a conspiracy-driven thriller comes as a surprise, leaving us curious about what will unfold next. This initial sense of ease gradually gives way to anxiety as the characters find themselves caught in circumstances increasingly beyond their control.

Once the conflict takes hold, Wallen demonstrates a reasonable command of the film's narrative momentum. The unfolding of events gradually releases information, keeping several strands of the story in motion without losing sight of Miranda's predicament. The prospect of consciousness transfer gives the film an effective science-fiction premise, even if its ethical implications receive less sustained attention than they might have. The antagonists, too, are drawn in fairly familiar strokes, with their conniving ambitions supplying much of the dramatic motivation.

Jackson Swan’s cinematography is comparatively steady, with camera movements and framing that avoid the restless camerawork often associated with action thrillers. This gives the film a visual stability that serves its unfolding conspiracy.

The action sequences, however, are less assured. Their choreography occasionally undermines the tension that the editing and narrative pacing work to establish. In some sequences, the score is less effective, frequently insisting on emotional responses that the scenes could have conveyed more naturally.

The performances are generally committed, with the supporting cast bringing some welcome colour to the proceedings. 

Eternal Code does not entirely fulfil the possibilities of its premise, particularly when it comes to examining the moral questions raised by the pursuit of eternal life. Still, Wallen keeps the story moving and gives its characters enough to contend with to sustain interest. 

The result is an uneven but reasonably engaging independent thriller, one whose ambitions occasionally exceed its means but whose commitment to engaging its audience remains intact.