The promotional material about Eternity describes it as a sci-fi murder mystery set in the near future. The hero of the story is a policeman (detective, really) and he and a bunch of his colleagues (all of whom have blotted their professional copybooks in some way) are being sent on a kind of crime-solving field trip with a competitive element..There's a promotion being offered for the most successful participant. The detectives are in teams of two and each team is working on the same crime - a murder that took place in a room with one door that was in sight of all of the six possible perpetrators at the time.Being sent on this field trip involves being translocated (a long distance version of beaming up, Star-trek style) and being part of a computer game. As the audience we don't really know who is real and who isn't. The wooden acting and slightly clunky script could be to emphasize the fact that some of the characters are androids or game characters, or they might be a reflection of the film's low budget. I'm not a sci-fi aficionado but I believe the premise of being trapped inside a game is not a new one - so that's not the reason you'd go to this film and neither are the script or the acting.
The reason to go is because Eternity is beautiful and its filmed here in New Zealand. Wellington, Napier and Auckland all feature and some of our nicest building exteriors and interiors are used. Filmmaker Alex Galvin tried very hard to make Eternity not look low budget and he certainly succeeded. Many of the buildings being Art Deco adds to the Agatha Christie feel of the mystery and the film. Expect to be wowed visually and moderately entertained by the story, and you won't be disappointed.
Anne's rating 3/5, Ian's rating 2/5
