While it doesn’t reach its ambitious goals, Project Eden Vol. 1 is never the less an impressively made sci-fi indie that presents its conspiracy thriller narrative with intensity and intrigue.

When it comes to Australian sci-fi indies, the casual formula is “big in ideas, yet small in scale”. Project Eden Vol. 1 curbs that trend, with this first entry in a sprawling two-part conspiracy thriller story one that boasts a sharp, large look more akin to a Hollywood feature than an independent Australian production. Shot in the US, UK and Australia, Project Eden Vol.1 benefits mightily from the cinematography of Christopher Lange (his feature debut) who captures the varied landscapes featured throughout and presents them in crisp, epic fashion.

Written and directed by the duo of Ashlee Jensen and Terrance Young, Project Eden Vol. 1 is set in an alternate America where the constant threat of terrorism has resulted in a country under lockdown. It’s within this world where war widow Evelyn Green (Emily Fradenburgh) is thrust into a global conspiracy centred on the fate of her comatose son Thomas (Koby Pivec). Partnering with mysterious fugitive Ethan Varnick (Peter Christian Hansen) and with dogged government agent David Roth (Mike Dopud) in hot pursuit, Evelyn travels far and wide to uncover a secret that has far-reaching ramifications for humanity.  

Performances wise limitations are found, especially by leads Green and Hansen, who although approach their roles with an intense earnestness, don’t project much in the way of personality to truly make their characters connect. The choice casting of veteran sci-fi actor Mike Dopud, Erick Avari, and especially Cliff Simon as an intimidating Russian crime figure, deliver much-needed charisma in a film that at times fells a little bogged down by the weight of its story.

Not that this is a bad thing. The absence of “stakes” in many a genre movie is all too common these days, and both Jensen and Young make it known throughout their sci-fi epic that there is much on the line in a world where conspiracy plots loom large. As such, there is much interest to be found in a story that features plenty of twists, turns, and burning mystery, to the point where the release of Vol.2 can’t come soon enough to answer many a pressing question.

Jensen and Young have done a great job with the limited resources they had in building their own world within an ever-expanding sci-fi universe, and present it in such epic fashion. It’ll be very interesting to see where they’ll go next.