EDEN
Starring: Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, and Richard Roxburgh
Director: Ron Howard
NICK
The true story of Eden takes a little while to get going, but once it does (coincidentally once Ana de Armas shows up?), it settles into quite an engaging picture. The film isn’t what you’d expect from director Ron Howard, but that’s part of its intrigue. The cast (again, highlighted by de Armas) understands their assignments, preventing the material from becoming too campy. There are laughs (I’d have liked a touch more comedy, though), but they’re well balanced in a story about humanity and survival. I, for one, would welcome Howard going this direction more often.
ADRIANO
As low a bar as it may be, Eden is director Ron Howard's best effort in a while. Granted, it's visually very bland, and it starts off pretty thin and uninteresting; however, once Ana de Armas kicks down the door with her new energy and show-stealing performance, the movie kicks into a much different gear. While still not excellent, the movie becomes an eye-opening rush of adrenaline that keeps upping the ante with its thrilling exploration of human nature and how ugly it can be when ego takes over. I wasn't expecting to be into it, yet I was.
QUENTIN
Eden — Ron Howard’s darkest film since 2003’s The Missing — struggles to maintain its early momentum once the main pieces are in place. By no means is that the ensemble’s fault, as each performer is operating at the top of their game. It’s the characters that are the problem. Through the skillful examination of human nature in the face of ego, power, jealousy, and entitlement, the entire cast embodies the despicable real-life people they are portraying so well that it’s near impossible to root for any of them. Since the audience has no “in,” it’s hard to be fully invested despite the story having inherent tension-building elements.
This film was reviewed by Nick and Adriano as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.