It was after watching Three O’clock High that I first noticed actor Richard Tyson, who played Buddy Revell—the menacing, silent, and ruthless bully. He has since become highly skilled at playing the tormentor, consistently dominating every scene in which he appears. So, it was no brainer for me to accept Eternal Code for screening as I was drawn to the amazing cast in addition to Tyson: Billy Wirth, Scout Taylor Compton, Kaiti Wallen and Yan Birch.  
 
The premise is simple: A biotech company looking to merge with another to develop eternal life engineering, leads to kidnapping and murder when met with opposition from headquarters. The AI infrastructure has gained momentum which is pivoted into transferring brain construction into a new body without invasive surgery. It’s figuratively mind-blowing (pun intended) yet requires the partnership of another powerhouse firm to change the mortality realm forever. Obviously met with extreme skepticism from the council including the founder’s daughter, CEO Bridget, the thought of playing God by granting eternal life for select individuals is an initiative she prefers to avoid.    
 
The delivery is super complicated. Second-in-command Oliver (Tyson) is adamant about this deal, resigned to launching this modernization to help terminal patients (best used excuse!) with or without Bridget’s blessing. He devises a plan to kidnap her and her family, hoping to pressure the others into supporting the resource consolidation by partnering with another corporation. The approach appears straightforward, provided that no harm occurs at the outset and Oliver attains his objectives.    
 
Unfortunately, with the involvement of a homeless veteran, a hooker, a teen daughter’s best friend and several criminals hired to pull off the abduction, this is unnecessarily complex from what the brief synopsis suggests.    
 
Eternal Code begins with Corey, a struggling veteran who rescues prostitute Stephanie from a volatile situation and finds himself in her radar within the next few days as she visits with a hot cup of coffee and a need to befriend him. During the same time span, Bridget and Mark’s do-good daughter, Miranda, gives money to Corey one afternoon with the impression that he will use it to buy food and other necessities. After her best friend May argues that he is likely to squander it on drugs, the teens watch and learn that Corey is a fellow philanthropist and spends the money on sandwiches for his street friends.    
 
Upon seeing these heartfelt deeds, Stephanie, Miranda and May become an unusual and instant unit which comes in handy when Miranda escapes the home invasion of masked criminals who take her parents hostage. Very convenient. Very strange.  
 
This team, without knowing much about each other, wants us to believe that they are the new Marvel superheroes who will rescue the rich couple, keep Miranda safe and unleash a myriad of fury on the organization’s twisted branch lead by Oliver, who are committing horrendous crimes in the name of medical advancement. The underlying moral integrity behind Bridget’s mainstay has trickled down amongst strangers who just want to be good Samaritans and do the right thing. Cliché as it is, Spike Lee attempted that long ago, and we’re still struggling with the reality that not everyone is an altruistic Pollyanna. Decent performances with an occasional stiffness that I chose to overlook, I celebrated the scenes with explanatory development to remind myself why this initiative began in the first place.