Ron Howard, known for his work on survival thrillers, has taken on a new project, "Eden", inspired by real-life events. Unfortunately, this latest endeavour falls short, leading critics to question whether Howard is more of a journeyman director, lacking a distinct style or substance.
The star-studded drama, despite its promising premise, fails to deliver, lacking profound themes or meaningful resonance. The uninspired colour palette, a result of digital cinema, only adds to the disappointment. Despite the cast's efforts to bring the screenplay to life, the film suffers from a lack of emotional and visual depth, making it a curiosity. It's hard not to wonder how it ended up in its final form. For a more in-depth analysis of the film's shortcomings, check out our review at https://carsnewstoday.com/entertainment/paradise-lost-ron-howards-eden-falls-flat-with-underwhelming-storytelling-and-uninspired-visuals/.
Uncovering the Story of Eden
Based on the true accounts of survivors who formed a commune in the Galápagos, the film takes place on the notorious Floreana Island. The story follows the broad strokes of real events, injecting dramatic speculation into the exact sequence of events. Floreana remained uninhabited until 1929, when Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his partner Dore Strauch (Vanessa Kirby) arrived from Berlin, seeking to establish a utopian community on the tiny volcanic landmass.
The film takes place several years into their residency on Floreana, when a family of three – having read Ritter’s letters to mainland Europe in various newspapers – arrives in search of a similar escape. Daniel Brühl plays Heinz Wittmer; Sydney Sweeney plays his pregnant, younger wife, Margaret; and Jonathan Tittel plays Heinz’s teenage son (and Margaret’s stepson), Harry. The Wittmers are curious and well-intentioned, although Ritter – an isolationist despite his egalitarian principles – wants nothing to do with them, so they set up camp several miles away. Minor tensions begin to simmer between the two households, but these don’t fully escalate until a third, more chaotic group arrives, sowing seeds of discord between Ritter and the Wittmers.
At the forefront of this opulent venture stands Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (Ana de Armas), flanked by her two devoted accomplices and paramours (Toby Wallace and Felix Kammerer). This sybaritic trio sets its sights on establishing a luxurious island retreat on Floreana, catering to the whims of affluent patrons. Their incursion into Ritter and the Wittmers’ (admittedly fragile) paradise is ripe for allegorical exploration, touching on the historical exploitation of resources by the wealthy at the expense of peace, but this theme is merely one of the many hints that ultimately lead nowhere.
Unraveling the Enigma of Eden’s Existentialist Odyssey
As rivalries simmer and factions emerge, Eloise proves to be a masterful manipulator, emerging as the film’s most captivating (and perhaps only) entertaining character, thanks to de Armas’ tour-de-force performance. She embodies a force of nature, hell-bent on shattering the existing status quo. However, that status quo is seldom intriguing in its own right. The closest it comes to fascination is when Howard’s camera zooms in on Ritter’s attempts to write in isolation, revealing Law’s temperament as a complex blend of fidgety impatience and regal poise, creating an undeniable magnetic pull.
Regrettably, few characters in the story are drawn to or repelled by him, let alone simultaneously. He simply exists as a temperamental figure, accepted from a distance as he makes grandiose claims about fixing the world. Eloise serves as his counterpart in a sense — equally, if not more, fraudulent — but rare are the moments in which Eden capitalizes on this thematic parallelism. For the most part, the film approaches survival in a technical, linear, and literal manner, despite a setting that is functionally purgatory (the film’s Biblical title invites such an interpretation, too).
For the likes of Heinz and Margaret, survival is reduced to collecting sustenance and water, and navigating pregnancy intact, but it’s never about the underlying questions that test their beliefs or their resolve. Unlike the great island stories of modern culture — The Lord of the Flies and Lost come to mind — the characters’ (and society’s) larger problems don’t accompany them to Floreana, leaving only Eloise’s individual quirks as sources of tension. Had the movie’s setting been radically different (a train, a cruise ship, or a hotel, perhaps), it’s unlikely things would have unfolded much differently.
The struggles in Eden stem not from mistrust or inner folly, but the mundane concerns of how best to cultivate vegetables or ward off wild dogs, and yet the film isn’t particularly invested in the process of survival, either. Instead, it maintains an air — a pretense — of greater significance, when no such thing exists. Part of this disconnect is also owed to how Howard and cinematographer Mathias Herndl capture the island itself, and the characters and their world at large, making the movie especially challenging to watch.
Visual Missteps in Eden Undercut the Film's Narrative Impact
Eden's aesthetic shortcomings detract from its survival narrative, eschewing a gritty, ominous atmosphere in favor of a visually jarring and uninspired texture.
The film's desaturated color palette, though occasionally effective, is applied with a heavy hand, neglecting to adapt to the characters' shifting perceptions of the island. Even as they initially view the island as a lush paradise, the cinematography remains stagnant, failing to capture the sense of wonder or awe. Later, as tensions rise and the characters turn against each other, the surroundings seem disconnected from their actions.
Beyond its color issues, the film's aesthetic problems persist. A lack of contrast is a significant concern, as characters' faces often blend into a dull gray, diminishing the dramatic impact of shadows. Every hue begins to look and feel identical, from tree bark to human skin, without any hint of how the characters interact with their environment. The result is a visually unappealing and detail-obscuring experience.
For instance, an early remark about Ritter's teeth hints at a character trait, suggesting that he may have had dental work for medical reasons. However, when he is later seen wearing metal dentures, it becomes clear that he has lost all his teeth. This detail, which could have been a revealing character moment, is instead obscured by the film's haphazard approach to color timing.
Similarly, intense scenes are drained of their emotional impact due to the bland, lifeless quality of the cinematography. The human face, eyes, and soul are lost in a sea of dullness, unable to convey the necessary emotional depth. The film's inability to accentuate these crucial aspects of human expression results in a flat, unengaging viewing experience.
Furthermore, the movie overstays its welcome, continuing beyond its natural endpoint – a moment of mistrust that pushes several characters to their limits. In its attempt to capture real events with its own spin, Eden becomes an overlong, unwelcome presence, much like an uninvited guest who refuses to leave. Ironically, this is the closest the film comes to embodying its characters' perspectives.
Eden received its world premiere review at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival.
