Ron Howard’s survival thriller Eden is based on the real events that took place on the Galápagos island of Floreana in the 1930s, and is derived from an interesting blend of historical fact and Hollywood embellishment. Despite an all-star ensemble cast led by Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas, and Jude Law, Eden has received mediocre reviews. The movie chronicles how three different groups attempt to live together on a remote, barren island.

Although the events occurred well before even the start of WWII, Howard and writer Noah Pink had plenty of material available to ensure relative accuracy, as both Dora Strauch (played by Vanessa Kirby in the movie) and Margret Wittmer (played by Sydney Sweeney) published books about their experiences. On top of that, Wittmer lived until 2000, and her family still operates a H๏τel on the island.

However, it’s in the discrepancies between the two accounts, along with some legitimate mysteries, that Pink and Howard made some dramatic ᴀssumptions. While the movie is partially about how the three different parties managed to survive (if not thrive, in the case of the Wittmers), the real intrigue comes from their fraught relationships with each other.

Tension escalates to the point of violence as Eden progresses through its two-hour runtime, which is where the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur. It’s clear that Oscar winner Ron Howard took some liberties to amp up the drama, but his version of the story isn’t as far off from reality as one might think.

What Eden Gets Right About The True Story

The basic setup of the movie and the characters is more or less accurate. Dr. Friedrich Ritter and his wife Dore Strauch moved to Floreana seeking to escape the desperate state of post-WWI Germany as the shadow of fascism spread, and it was his correspondence with news outlets that inspired Heinz and Margret Wittmer to attempt the same in 1932.

As a high-ranking member of the folding Weimar Republic, Heinz feared political persecution as Hitler rose to power, and the tropical climate of Floreana was in fact supposed to help with his ailing son’s health. Later that year, a Baroness (Ana de Armas) joined them on the island with her two lovers, although she was rumored to be fleeing Paris after killing someone.

Most of the events involving how each group managed to survive on the island were accurate, right down to Margret Wittmer giving birth in a cave alone while her son and husband hunted. Per TIME, Howard visited the actual cave so that he could more accurately recreate the dramatic scene.

There was genuine disdain for the baroness on the part of both Ritter and Heinz Wittmer, just as is depicted in the movie. Her odd behavior, including carrying around The Picture of Dorian Gray, her constant attempts at seduction, and nursing animals back to health (which she herself wounded) are all based on real-time reporting and first-hand accounts.

Along those lines, the disappearance of the baroness and her lover, Robert Phillipson (played by Toby Wallace), is based in reality. The circumstances of their vanishing remain a mystery to this day, and that’s about where the narrative of Eden begins to spring from Pink and Howard’s imaginations, albeit based heavily on educated guesswork given the information at hand.

What Eden Gets Wrong About The True Story

Some of the drama on the island presented in Eden is not necessarily based on fact, although the spirit of the events is consistent with reality. For example, the desperation of the baroness leading to her forcing her lovers to steal from the Wittmers seems to be more of an embellishment to help make the fraying relationship between the two parties more dramatic.

Additionally, her group engaging in intentional sabotage of Ritter and Strauch’s farm was likely added to truly paint the baroness as the villain of the movie. While she was undoubtedly the least popular person on the island, she may not have been as outwardly malicious and vindictive as she was painted in Eden.

The circumstances of her death in the movie are also not necessarily based on fact. While it’s true that she and Phillipson disappeared, the prevailing theory is that it was the third member of their group, Rudolph Lorenz, who killed them and burned their bodies. He had often complained of mistreatment at their hands, and desperately sought to leave the island via a small fishing boat, which ultimately led to his death.

In reality, Ritter did in fact write a letter accusing the Wittmers of their murder, but that’s largely been accepted as a falsification. That letter has led many to believe that he was involved in the murder and disposal of the baroness and her lover, and was attempting to throw any authorities off his scent.

The notion that Dora actively fed Ritter poisoned chicken is also not necessarily true, although tainted chicken is in fact what killed Ritter. Howard and Pink are extrapolating a bit on what Dora might have done once she realized Ritter was involved in the baroness’ death, with her fear beginning to outweigh her love and allegiance.

Both Howard and Pink thought it odd that a doctor would be struck down by tainted meat, as he would be the person on the island most likely to know about the effects. In the movie, it’s Margret Wittmer who mentions to Dora how chicken meat remains poisonous despite being boiled if they are fed tainted meat themselves (as they are in the movie), which has a more nefarious implication than what happened in reality.

Generally speaking, Eden stays true to reality more often than it exaggerates for dramatic effect. The fundamentals of the story and major character beats are all faithful to the truth, and it’s in the unknowable moments on Floreana that Howard and Pink really took any liberties. Their changes made for a much more dramatic and cinematic tale, although the real version of events was harrowing in itself.