TIFF Review: ‘Eden’ Finds Ron Howard Exploring a Far Darker Side of Humanity

When you think of Ron Howard the filmmaker, you think of a sturdy popcorn flick, in all likelihood. Rarely, if ever, does he take a bleak view of humanity. Eden, however, is very much on that level. Howard’s survival thriller, which has a darkly funny streak to it, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival with a bang. Howard may be a cuddly sort of guy, but here, his view of the world is that hell is other people.

Eden starts off a little bit slowly, and it’s clear early on to see where things are going, but there’s a sense of campy fun in seeing things deteriorate. There’s a Lord of the Flies feel to it all, but done in a slightly different way than usual. Some of that is Howard getting down and dirty. The rest is the cast being more than willing to do the same.

In 1929, Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and his partner Dora Strauch (Vanessa Kirby) fled Germany for the inhabited island of Floreana in the Galapagos. Friedrich has designs on writing his manifesto, while he and Dora plan to cure her multiple sclerosis by way of meditation. They’ve settled the island and while it’s a hard life, they’re alone and making it work. The solitude, however, is short lived, which disrupts the life they’ve built.

First, inspired by Friedrich’s letters back to civilization, Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Bruhl) and his wife Margaret (Sydney Sweeney) arrive. They’re unprepared fools to the island veterans, but despite Friedrich setting them up for failure, the Wittmer family begins to thrive. Then, as if that hasn’t been hard enough, the self-appointed baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (Ana de Armas) shows up with her minions. She plans to build a luxury resort on the island, but not before beginning to turn everyone against each other. As things get worse and worse, violence begins to rear its ugly head.

This cast goes all in on the dark material. Your favorite performance may vary, but everyone pulls their weight. There’s Ana de Armas as a full on conniver, always looking to manipulate. There’s Sydney Sweeney as a seemingly pure neophyte, who gets to really go to town on a wild sequence involving wild dogs. Perhaps you’re more in tune with the biting wit of Vanessa Kirby or Jude Law? They offer that up in spades. Daniel Bruhl offers more of a steady hand, leaning into the boring nature of this husband. For me, de Armas and Sweeney are best in show, but there’s not a weak link among them. Supporting players include Felix Kammerer, Jonathan Tittel, Toby Wallace, and more.

Director Ron Howard is clearly having a good time here, taking Noah Pink‘s grimy script and getting down in the mud and the muck. They’re both pretty pleased with themselves, but that leads to more laughs than you might expect. The narrative doesn’t really have any surprises, but that’s not particularly a bug. Howard doesn’t shy away from blood, bodily fluids, or nudity, while Pink is happy to make everyone different shades of terrible, with few exceptions. The ending drags out a touch, but when you see how this true life tale ends, it’s actually pretty notable.

Eden may prove a bit much for some people, but as a real change of pace from Howard, I got a kick out of it. Never boring, the film doesn’t always hit home as strongly as it would like, but as something different from almost all involve, it’s a TIFF effort that few will regret experiencing. Eden is a nice place to visit, even if you wouldn’t want to live there.

SCORE: ★★★