Film Review – Eden (2025)

While once a safe, dependable helmer of Hollywood entertainment, director Ron Howard’s recent career choices have been anything but predictable. His oeuvre could technically be classified as a roller coaster ride, going skyward with movies such as “Rush,” “Thirteen Lives,” and “Jim Henson: Idea Man.” And it’s plunged into the depths, including one of the worst films of 2020, “Hillbilly Elegy.” To his credit, most of these endeavors work to challenge Howard’s moviemaking skills, presenting him with different genres and locations to expand his storytelling horizons. “Eden” is one of those big swings, exploring a developing situation of survival on Floreana Island nearly 100 years ago. Screenwriter Noah Pink (“Tetris”) reheats a true tale of community tensions, out to examine the dramatic potential of strangers forced to endure the elements and one another in the middle of nowhere. “Eden” slips out of Howard’s control in many ways, though its examination of manipulation has its powerful moments. There’s just not enough of them to support the unsteady viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com