Eden lays humanity’s worst instincts bare in a survival thriller that unfortunately doesn’t live up to the talents of its cast, as director Ron Howard rushes through a heated narrative that plays out like a cutthroat soap opera. The film’s shotgun pacing focuses heavily on extreme characterizations, salacious sexuality and predictable turns, and opportunities for insight are ignored in favor of manufactured tension. Some players simply vanish from the film as afterthoughts. Jude Law and Sydney Sweeney give outstanding performances, truthful depictions of life in an unforgiving environment where nature conquers civility when basic needs aren’t met.
Based on true events, Eden opens in 1929 as German Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Law) and his partner, Dore Strauch (Vanessa Kirby), leave a devastated Germany for the remote Galápagos Islands. They settle in Floreana with the intention of living a natural lifestyle away from the evils of man. Ritter, who fancied himself a brilliant philosopher, infamously removed all his teeth and ate with metal dentures to prove his dedication. Dore, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, idolized Ritter and believed his genius would cure her illness.
Eden
2.5
/5
- Release Date
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August 22, 2025
- Runtime
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120 minutes
- Writers
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Noah Pink
- Producers
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Brian Grazer, Karen Lunder, Patrick Newall, Stuart Ford
A Shallow Survival Tale
Ritter and Dore’s isolation was shattered in the winter of 1932 with the arrival of Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Brühl), a former soldier and bureaucrat, his much younger second wife, Margret (Sweeney) and his ailing adolescent son Harry (Jonathan Tittel). The Wittmers had read newspaper accounts of Ritter’s supposed exploits before arriving in Floreana, stunning Ritter and Dore as they were completely unaware of their celebrity status in Europe. A fearful Margret has her suspicions confirmed when Ritter and Dore aren’t welcoming, however, offering no help with the cruel intention of forcing the interlopers out.
The plot thickens several months later, when Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (Ana de Armas) shows up with two lovers, Robert (Toby Wallace) and Rudy (Felix Kammerer), a servant, Manuel (Ignacio Gasparini) and the cockamamie plan of building an exclusive hotel on the island. Ritter, Dore and the Wittmers are aghast at the narcissism of the Baroness, who takes precious resources without any thought to her neighbors. This thorny fact strains relations as a drought decimates Floreana.
The biblical Eden was a garden paradise, but Floreana is rocky and volcanic with few sources of drinking water and sparse vegetation, because the soil isn’t amenable to farming. Every morsel of food and sip of water is a precious commodity, with packs of ferocious wild dogs and feral pigs roaming the island. Howard (Splash, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind) uses soaring overhead shots and a muted color palette to dispel any notion of lush greenery, making it clear that a hardscrabble existence is the best case scenario for our intrepid homesteaders.
Remote Debauchery
Eden wastes no time in its first act. The primary characters are introduced within the first 10 minutes, and no one gets any real exposition before they’re deposited on the island. Months pass in breezy montages, as the Wittmers build a fairly impressive house like a Lego set. It’s understandable that Howard wants to get the action moving, but there needs to be more time spent on formative character development to answer basic questions: How did the Wittmers achieve so easily what Ritter and Dore couldn’t accomplish over four years, for example?
The same issue plagues the relationship between Ritter and Dore. Law commands the screen with haughty dialogue and a domineering physical stature. He walks around toothless, naked and spouting haughty philosophy. We also hear Ritter’s thoughts during voice-overs as he clacks away on a typewriter writing his ludicrous manifesto. Meanwhile, Kirby, a brilliant actress, takes on a cheerleader role with significantly less screen time. She appears when needed to laud Ritter, mock the others as beneath them and then plays a critical part during the climax without any explanation. It feels like some of her scenes were cut, which is a disservice to a character who should be just as important as Ritter. Instead, she ends up being a footnote in her own story.
The Baroness has the opposite problem as the manipulative antagonist. She struts around like an oversexed peacock, controlling her subservient studs like trained dogs. They say almost nothing, and do her vile bidding without any thought to the aftermath. Howard goes full tilt on de Armas’ smoldering beauty, but the Baroness is so utterly devoid of subtlety that it’s hard to believe that anyone would fall for her fraudulent shtick — a notion that’s acknowledged when a minor character sees through her cartoonish machinations.
Hunger Games
Thankfully, Sweeney’s Margret gives the film a female protagonist that’s well-rounded and believable. She’s initially terrified of being on Floreana, but she supports Heinz and the idea that the climate will help Harry’s health. Sweeney shows considerable acting range here, playing an understated part that isn’t driven by her looks. A fascinating subplot explains why Margret married an older man, as she goes through formative changes and emerges as a pillar of strength to her family. Brühl smartly doesn’t try to overpower her in their shared scenes, portraying Heinz as a good, but broken man.
Eventually, Eden devolves into an expected dog-eat-dog fight for supremacy. There’s no mystery in hunger and desperation chucking philosophy out the window. Howard, one of Hollywood’s great directors, again succumbs to expediency instead of a more thoughtful finale. Eden is honestly never boring, but lacks a nuanced approach that would have been improved by more fully fleshed-out characters.
Eden is a production of Imagine Entertainment, AGC Studios, Library Pictures International and Medan Productions. It will be released theatrically on August 22nd from Vertical.
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