Eden Movie Review: Savage Survival, Shallow Thrills

As quickly as the trailer for Eden went viral, the film failed to deliver. Oscar-winning director Ron Howard presented a stark account of a paradise in peril.​

Here is our version of Eden movie review that will help you decide whether this bizarre yet fascinating journey is worth your two hours or better left for another time.

​Plot details of Eden (2025)

The film was formerly known as Origin of the Species and is a veracious brutal survival story of a group of disillusioned outsiders who decided to stay away on a remote, uninhabited, island in Galapagos.​

The residents think that the greatest threat is not climate change or natural hazards but humans themselves. More credibility comes from the fact that it is a true account of German settlers, where gnarly human conditions make them worse than animals.

To merely fulfill their existential needs, the film shows what lengths humans can go. Themes of power struggles, betrayal, and violence are outrageously evident.

Watch the trailer here to know what this all means:​

Actors’ performances in Eden (2025)

Ana de Armas was on top of the rest. Although the director chose these three female leads strategically since he thought they were the ones who made the lives of their men.

Ana de Armas came out as the strongest, mainly because of her role. And by her role, I do not mean her character as a Baroness Elois. I mean the villainous streak that she had shown throughout the film, despite a gruesome end.

She was strong, attractive, cunning, and desperate to stay in power. Her recurring line, “I am the embodiment of perfection,” serves as a striking reminder to believe in oneself — a memorable lesson for all of us.

Sydney Sweeney as Margaret was different. She was not as cruel as the Baroness and Dore (Vanessa Kirby). It was probably that she had a family to care for, and she did not want her husband or kids to suffer from her rash decisions, unlike the other two ladies.

Vanessa Kirby’s Dore was nasty in the beginning, but she knew that there were things that she had been doing wrong. She knew that Jude Law’s Friedrich Ritter was not following his mission and was only after degrading his neighbors. Dore knew that Ritter wouldn’t listen and would ruin everyone’s life.  

The two prominent men, Jude Law and Daniel Bruhl, were excellent in their characters. However, their performances did not outshine those of the three ladies.

What do critics add to Eden movie review?

The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes does not approve much of the film, as it says,

“A cohesive theme gets marooned in Eden‘s melodramatic dramatization of a colorful true story, but it does provide a starry cast and salacious thrills as compensation.” [Source]

The critics were of the view that with an interesting story, the film did not come out to be as significant as it should have. The film should have blown away with a star-studded cast, but that, unfortunately, did not happen.​

One of the critics called it Ron Howard’s “soulless” attempt that was devoid of a “consistent tone”. The others called it a “compelling story” with Ana de Armas delivering a captivating performance that elevated the film into a standout success.

Fans’ reaction

With a relatively higher rating from the general audience, Eden gained a positive reception. Some were amazed at leaving the theatre in awe, wondering what was literal and what was not. They found the performances of all cast members brilliant.

Some fans criticized it to the core, noticing that the “accents were horrible”. The others called the casting a “misfit” and the runtime too long. It might have looked like it was on the verge of falling off a cliff, but it was saved by the performances somehow. 

Is it worth watching?

You wouldn’t regret it if you missed this one, since I don’t think the film was an outstanding depiction of the real-life events that happened on the island.

However, I should be the last one uttering this statement since I have not read the real stories written by Dr. Ritter or Margaret, but I believe that the detailed account written by hand would have been more chilling than the film itself.​

Eden is full of adult themes and based on an undeniably thrilling real history; however, an immersive storytelling was missing. The director did not seem to do justice to the satire that could have drawn the world into itself.

In trying something new, the veteran filmmaker seems to have lost his way — the film is a clear misfire. The 1930s fact-based story of a paradise whose descent into hell gave the impression of a failed expedition.

Howard wanted to work on this story for the past 15 years as the idea fascinated him since his visit to the island with his family. He could not get the story out of his mind as he found it “unusual”.

Since the film is based on two accounts of the same story, the narrative mainly focuses on how they survived and what happened to the rest. The disintegration of relationships and who stood strong till the end is the only thing that keeps you hooked to the finish.​

Character development was good, as by the end of the film, all the characters were completely comprehensible. Why they did a certain action and what was their motive behind it made a consistent sense.​

What we liked

• Powerful performance
• Strong female-centric narrative
• Visual and atmospheric appeal
• Compelling true story
• Character development

What could be better

• Inconsistent tone
• Uneven direction
• Pacing issues
• Missed satirical potential
• Underwhelming impact

Here’s a detailed breakdown of our rating for Eden (2025)

Story/plot	5/10
Characters and acting	7/10
Direction and pacing	5/10
Visuals and cinematography	5/10
Soundtrack/score	6/10
Themes and message	4/10
Emotional impact	2/10
Creativity/originality	2/10
Rewatchability	1/10

Our rating: 2/10

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Is Eden (2025) available for online streaming?

Eden (2025) (R-rated) is currently playing in cinemas with Vertical Entertainment’s distribution and is not on online streaming platforms.

Genre: Psychological thriller, crime

IMDb rating: 6.5

Rotten Tomatoes: 57 percent on Tomatometer (critics’ score) and 73 percent on Popcornmeter 

Cast: Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Ruhl, Sydney Sweeney

Director: Ron Howard

Writers: Ron Howard, Noah Pink

Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Karen Lunder, William M. Connor, Stuart Ford, Patrick Newall

Release date: August 22, 2025

Movie runtime: 2 hours 9 minutes

Have you watched Eden (2025) yet? Did Ron Howard’s take on paradise gone wrong live up to your expectations? We’d love to hear your take.