The trailer arrived for Eden, the latest film by director Ron Howard (Apollo 13, Beautiful Heart). It’s the first proper look at the survival thriller starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Sidney Sweeney, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Bruhl. Please see the above for more details.
Based on a shocking story
Eden is inspired by real events that unfolded on Floreana Island in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. In 1929, a handful of European settlers arrived on remote islands seeking reinvention, but discovered that the biggest threat was not a harsh environment. As the trailer shows, what begins as a hopeful experiment quickly develops into a fierce descent into civil wars, power struggles and an increasingly violent chaos.
Howard said the story first attracted attention 15 years ago during a family trip to the Galapagos. “It exceeded all my expectations,” he said in an interview with the September 2024 deadline. “There I came across this story, which was so fascinating to me that I began to read everything I could about the people in the three units who tried to reinvent their lives off the grid.”
The project marks yet another true hierarchy adaptation for Howard, who described the story as “why would survive, and why.” He added that the characters are “very layered and complicated” based on two very different explanations of the same mystery, and that they choose “a fierce and shocking… they’re totally human.”
High interests and humanity
The threat of the wild looms in the background, but Eden centers the drama around human nature. Howard “it turns out that the most dangerous factor was not motherhood, but human nature.” He described the story as “classic, dramatic, and ultimately suspense,” revealing that the story had been stuck with him for many years, urging him to share it with Tetris’ scribe Noah Pink, who wrote the script.
The director, who worked closely with Pink (of genius fame), was drawn to how relevant these quirky characters are (and how relevant, even if they are empathetic). “There’s a humorous place. It’s okay because it’s organic and comes out of the characters,” Howard said. “But many of these same qualities are threatening and dangerous to others by the end of the film.”
Star-studded cast and intense drama
The film features a prominent ensemble that draws Law as Friedrich Ritter, Kirby as Dora Strouch, De Armas as the glamorous Barony Eloise, and Sweeney and Bruhl into the social experiments of the island. The trailer teases betrayal, despair, and ultimately violence. Ignore it in an atmosphere that feels far from paradise.
Eden premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and has already been released in several international markets, including Germany. So far, there’s been a mix of critical responses, and the film currently sits at 57% with rotten tomatoes (from 30 critical reviews). While some reviews praised its ambition and performance, others found the film to be emotionally distant as chaotic.
Eden is scheduled to open in US cinemas on August 22nd. The Australian release date has not been announced yet.
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