Movie Review: Eden (2024)

Genre: Historical Drama  

Director: Ron Howard  

Starring: Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Daniel Brühl, Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Kirby  

Running Time: 130 minutes  

Synopsis: In 1921, Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his partner Dore (Vanessa Kirby) escape an increasingly Fascist Europe and settle on the uninhabited island of Floreana in the Galápagos Islands. Ritter wants to write a manifesto for a better world, while Dore hopes the climate will improve her health. Their solitude is disrupted by the arrival of fellow German couple Margret and Heinz Wittmer (Sydney Sweeney and Daniel Brühl) and their sick son. They are determined to start a new life, and Margret is soon pregnant. Tension escalates with the arrival of self-proclaimed Baroness Eloise (Ana de Armas) and her small entourage. She is a hypersexual manipulative narcissist, and plans to open a luxury hotel on the island.

What Works Well: Based on astonishing actual events, this drama is a condemnation of the base human condition. In an environment combining unspoiled paradise with harsh reality, it only takes a society of five people to bring out conflict, crime, self-interest, deception, and back-stabbing. Ron Howard directs with understated watchfulness, allowing rustic beauty to house an experiment of emotional disintegration. Only small acts of kindness break through the gloom, and then only begrudgingly, momentarily, and often for convenience. The central performances are grounded in gritty survivalism, Jude Law clacking a typewriter into madness, Sydney Sweeney uncovering animal instincts during a birth scene for the ages, and Ana de Armas excelling as the Baroness of wickedness.

What Does Not Work As Well: A slight trim to the running time would have improved the pacing.

Key Quote:

Baroness: Margret! You must tell us all about the birth. Was it fun?

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