TIFF 2024: Eden Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Click here to stay up to date with our latest coverage.

Director Ron Howard has largely stayed away from the big Hollywood scene lately, spending much of his time making documentaries between mixed streaming features, 2020s Hillbilly Elegy and 2022 Thirteen livesBut with Edenhe returns to the feature film business with a star-studded film that is different from what most audiences are used to from Howard. This historical survival thriller is an interesting character piece that is certainly not afraid to go to some pretty dark places. It is suspenseful and surprisingly brutal as it follows the creation of a new future society after World War I and its subsequent downfall at the hands of the inevitable corruption of man. Although it is a little long at just over two hours, its incredible cast, featuring the likes of Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney and Ana de Armas, to name a few, all deliver, because what ultimately makes the film work despite its problems is this ensemble. Their performances, especially those of Sweeney and de Armas, add a compelling complexity to the arc of the ensemble dynamics over the course of the film.

The story revolves around German couple Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Law) and his wife Dora (Kirby), who come to Floreana, an uninhabited island in the Galápagos archipelago, in search of a new life. They think they have found paradise, but in reality it is anything but when visitors arrive and disrupt their longed-for solitude. As news of their exploits spreads further across the mainland, others hoping for a second chance packed up their bags and moved to Floreana as well. The Ritters are not particularly keen on the idea of ​​neighbors and may not have been the friendliest people to Margret Wittmer (Sweeney) and her husband Heinz (Daniel Brühl). But no one was prepared for the arrival of a force of nature in the form of Countess Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (de Armas). For better or worse, she was an over-the-top personality and her intentions for the island rubbed many of the other residents the wrong way. Ultimately, much of the drama came from watching the characters learn to coexist with one another, which proved to be a rollercoaster ride in itself.

The dynamic between the characters grew to pretty grim proportions over time as their desperation grew and their survival instincts began to take over. It was only a matter of time. While it took a while to get there, it felt no less earned, and that was used as a jumping off point for even more tension. Again, it all works because of the acting across the board. Everyone delivered compelling performances, the standouts being the aforementioned Sweeney and de Armas. As the film's main force, Sweeney's Margaret was great while caught in the middle of all the other personalities. On the other hand, de Armas shines as a cheesy villain unlike any she's played before.

Eden is a slow-paced thriller that shows a different side of Ron Howard, and a great ensemble piece that isn't afraid to get dark when necessary.

still courtesy of Prime Video