Eden

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"Eden is a compelling portrayal of the downfall of utopian dreams against the inevitability of human nature.

The performances are solid, the cinematography immersive, and the themes echo well beyond the big screen. But excessive dramatization, technical hiccups, and some less fortunate stylistic choices prevent the movie from reaching the greatness it so clearly aspired to.

The result is an interesting study, with powerful moments, but one that leaves the impression it could have been far more impactful had it trusted less in melodrama and more in the rawness of the facts."

Rating: B-

For seemingly as long as mankind has been around, our species has earnestly sought to escape the world’s ills, searching for paradise in ambitious attempts to start anew. These quests to reinvent the human condition have been found in an array of source materials, too, from Thomas More’s Utopia to the plots of James Bond movies to the Biosphere II experiment. Nearly all of these grand plans, however, have remained virtual, stayed locked in literature, or, despite good intentions, failed. One such initiative with these notions in mind was launched by a pair of German emigres who fled their homeland in 1931 for a hoped-for simpler way of life on the island of Floreana in the Galapagos Archipelago, a place where they could live out their idealistic virtues undisturbed. And their fact-based story provides the basis for this latest offering from writer-director Ron Howard. The film chronicles the saga of Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law), a former physician who sought refuge on the island to write a manifesto about the values needed to set humanity on a new course in an era of out-of-control influences and the rise of fascism, and his partner, Dore Strauch (Vanessa Kirby), who was looking for a natural, meditative way to cure her worsening multiple sclerosis. However, as word of their courageous venture began to spread far and wide, their experiment captured the attention of the curious, particularly those looking to follow their lead, such as a trio of adventurous homesteaders, disillusioned German functionary Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Bruehl), his kindly, soft-spoken wife, Margret (Sydney Sweeney), and their tuberculosis-afflicted son, Harry (Jonathan Tittel). Then there were the unabashed opportunists, such as self-described Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (Ana de Armas), a hedonistic, less-than-veiled con artist seeking to build an exclusive luxury hotel on the island with a posse of suitors in tow. The peace that Ritter and Strauch sought quickly evaporates wit...