Ron Howard, a usually reliable director, made Eden, a messy, flawed historical survival thriller written by Noah Pink, from a story by the pair.
Grade: C
Photo: Jasin Boland
It stars Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, and Richard Roxburgh.
The film is based on the true story of several European settlers, including Margret Wittmer, who arrive on the isolated Floreana Island, in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, pre-World War II, hoping to start a life there.
The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Fest, and was released in the US by Vertical on August 22, 2025.
The Premise:
Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and Dore Strauch (Vanessa Kirby) flee their native Germany in 1931, repudiating the bourgeois values that are corroding humanity.
On the isle of Floreana in the Galápagos Islands, Friedrich focuses on writing his manifesto, while Dore resolves to cure her multiple sclerosis through meditation.
Most of the characters are dislikable and disbelievable, icluding Dr. Friedrich Ritter, whose lives ended tragically, in one way or another.
Itertitles reveal that Dore returned to Germany, where she died of multiple sclerosis in 1943, shortly after publishing a memoir about her experience.
Margret later wrote her own account of events, which conflicted Dore’s memoir.
Rudolph, who attempted to escape the island with traveling fisherman, died offshore when hisboat got caught in storm.
The Wittmers remained on Floreana, with Margret eventually dying there in 2000.
Magaret and Heinz’s descendants maintain a small hotel on the island for travelers.
Cast
Jude Law as Dr. Friedrich Ritter
Vanessa Kirby as Dore Strauch
Daniel Brühl as Heinz Wittmer
Sydney Sweeney as Margret Wittmer
Ana de Armas as Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn
Eden (2925): Ron Howard’s Messy, Flawed Historical Survival Thriller, Starring Jude Law
One of Howard’s and 2025’s Worst Films
Ron Howard, a usually reliable director, made Eden, a messy, flawed historical survival thriller written by Noah Pink, from a story by the pair.
Grade: C
It stars Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, and Richard Roxburgh.
The film is based on the true story of several European settlers, including Margret Wittmer, who arrive on the isolated Floreana Island, in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, pre-World War II, hoping to start a life there.
The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Fest, and was released in the US by Vertical on August 22, 2025.
The Premise:
Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law) and Dore Strauch (Vanessa Kirby) flee their native Germany in 1931, repudiating the bourgeois values that are corroding humanity.
On the isle of Floreana in the Galápagos Islands, Friedrich focuses on writing his manifesto, while Dore resolves to cure her multiple sclerosis through meditation.
Most of the characters are dislikable and disbelievable, icluding Dr. Friedrich Ritter, whose lives ended tragically, in one way or another.
Itertitles reveal that Dore returned to Germany, where she died of multiple sclerosis in 1943, shortly after publishing a memoir about her experience.
Margret later wrote her own account of events, which conflicted Dore’s memoir.
Rudolph, who attempted to escape the island with traveling fisherman, died offshore when hisboat got caught in storm.
The Wittmers remained on Floreana, with Margret eventually dying there in 2000.
Magaret and Heinz’s descendants maintain a small hotel on the island for travelers.
Cast
Jude Law as Dr. Friedrich Ritter
Vanessa Kirby as Dore Strauch
Daniel Brühl as Heinz Wittmer
Sydney Sweeney as Margret Wittmer
Ana de Armas as Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn
Jonathan Tittel as Harry Wittmer
Richard Roxburgh as Allan Hancock
Toby Wallace as Robert Phillipson
Felix Kammerer as Rudolph Lorenz
Ignacio Gasparini as Manuel Borja