Howard’s new film is set on a deserted island in the Galápagos (where Darwin did his pioneering research; Eden was thus originally titled The Origin of the Species). Complementing the beautiful scenery are beautiful stars — Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl, Sydney Sweeney, and Ana de Armas. It’s all pretty to watch and intellectually entertaining at first. But as soon as the stakes are set and lines are drawn, Eden escapes Howard and writer Noah Pink’s hands like a runaway train with no destination, ultimately ending in disappointment.
Eden Is a True Story About the Impossibility of Utopia
As for the actual story part, Eden notes to the audience early on that the story is based on a strange incident that took place on Floreana Island and is the sum of many conflicting accounts of survivors. In 1929, the world was reeling from economic and political collapse. Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his wife, Dore Strauch (Vanessa Kirby), head to the uninhabited Floreana in the Galápagos archipelago with a typewriter in hand to create a radical philosophy that would help society crawl out of the shadows of World War I. From his utopic island, Ritter would send back some of his thoughts for three years, and the German papers would rave about his creations.
The thing about having a supposed utopia is that it must be isolated from external and opposing influences which could create conflict. That’s what happens in 1932, when World War I veteran Heinz Wittmer (Brühl), his wife Margret (Sweeney), and their teenage son Harry (Jonathan Tittel) arrive at the island. Life is rough on the mainland, and they have come to Floreana for a new start. However, it’s not as if everything will be easy for them. For starters, they’re competing for food sources with wild boars and dogs, and there isn’t exactly a surplus of drinkable water either.
The more significant factor is Friedrich and Dore – who aren’t ready and willing to give their neighbors a helping hand. They are sadistically turned on by the fact that the Wittmer family will struggle significantly – sending them to a cave and rock formation to set up camp instead of sharing their farm.
Ana de Armas Is the Secret, Unruly Ingredient as the Baroness
The innocence with which Brühl and Sweeney play their roles, in contrast to the condescending, mischievous energy of Law and Kirby, sets a good template for what’s to come. If four people weren’t enough, Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (de Armas) arrives with completely different motivations. The Baroness has no time to save humanity. She has plans to turn Floreana into a luxurious resort and nothing will get in her way. Where the Baroness comes from, people throw themselves at her feet because of her beauty and wealth. What could go wrong with her record player, books, and lovers (played by Felix Kammerer and Toby Wallace) by her side?
De Armas is excellent and benefits the most from this in terms of ever-changing character motivations. As the Baroness, she’s playful, somewhat delusional, and uses everything to her advantage to manipulate those around her. With Ritter, you can immediately tell that something is off. His voiceovers romanticize suffering as the way out, at least in the first part of Eden, which is an ominous red flag. Once all the players are set, Howard and Pink set up a lot of side stories in an effort to prevent hitting the same doomsday-like beats over and over again.
The Ending of Eden Lets Down Whatever It Built
It works for a while, with Eden shaking the snow globe of its world and causing new chaos with things the narrative can exploit. Jealousy breaks out between the Baroness’ lovers. Ritter and Strauch’s foundation slowly erodes. Wittmer suffers from increasing PTSD. Someone discovers they are pregnant. And so on.
With how complex the rough edges are within these characters, it’s surprising just how simple the finale to all this is, which fails everything Eden had developed. The film discards much of the philosophical weight it had put on like airs, finding shock and action-style vices as an immediate end. It seems to either waste all its previous intellect, or suggest that intellect is meaningless. On its own, the film sustains your attention (and maybe even entertains) with its many twists and turns and pretty people. Yet it feels thematically hollow. Eden had the tools to become something unique, if only its more multi-faceted aspirations carried any heft.
