# Eden (2024 film)

Eden is a 2024 American survival thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by Noah Pink from a story by Pink and Howard. It stars Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace and Richard Roxburgh. The film is based on the true story of a few European settlers arriving at Floreana Island, in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2024 and will be released theatrically in Germany on April 3, 2025 by Leonine.

## Premise

Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Law) and his wife Dora Strauch (Kirby) flee their native Germany in 1929, repudiating the bourgeois values they believe are corroding mankind’s true nature. On the isle of Floreana (part of the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador), Friedrich can focus on writing his manifesto, while Dora resolves to cure her multiple sclerosis through meditation. Their hard-won solitude, however, is short lived.
They are joined by Margret (Sweeney) and Heinz Wittmer (Brühl), who prove to be earnest, capable settlers. Next comes Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn (De Armas), a self-described Baroness and the "embodiment of perfection", who arrives with two devoted lovers, an Ecuadorian servant, a wardrobe full of evening gowns, and plans to erect a luxury hotel. Between inclement weather, unruly wildlife, and a total lack of amenities, all three groups find life on Floreana arduous. But nothing will test their mettle more than the challenge of coexisting with desperate neighbours capable of theft, deception, and worse.

## Cast

* Jude Law as Dr. Friedrich Ritter
* Vanessa Kirby as Dora Strauch Ritter
* Daniel Brühl as Heinz Wittmer
* Sydney Sweeney as Margret Wittmer
* Jonathan Tittel as Harry Wittmer
* Ana de Armas as Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn
* Richard Roxburgh as G. Allan Hancock
* Felix Kammerer
* Toby Wallace as Robert Phillipson

## Production

It was announced in October 2022 that Ron Howard would direct the film, and he had begun the casting process and location scouting. The film was to be titled Origin of Species at that time. In May 2023, Ana de Armas, Jude Law, Alicia Vikander and Daniel Brühl were cast, with Daisy Edgar-Jones in negotiations. Casting was permitted to continue during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike after securing an interim agreement with the guild. In November, the film was retitled to Eden, with Vanessa Kirby and Sydney Sweeney added to the cast to replace Vikander and Edgar-Jones respectively, and Hans Zimmer was set to compose the score. Edgar-Jones was forced to exit as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike, as she needed to keep her commitment to Twisters, which had to halt production as a result of the strike. In December 2023, it was announced that Richard Roxburgh, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, Paul Gleeson, and Ignacio Gasparini had joined the cast.
Filming was expected to begin in November 2023, with production taking place in Queensland, Australia, and a small unit filming on the Galápagos Islands. Filming began on November 27, 2023 on the Australian Gold Coast.

## Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2024. In May 2024, AGC Studios sold distribution rights to the film for multiple international territories to Amazon Prime Video at the Marché du Film. It will be released theatrically in Germany on April 3, 2025 by Leonine.

## Reception
### Critical response

The film holds a 57% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 30 critic reviews with an average rating of 6.4/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.