Revolving around a self-proclaimed doctor, Friedrich Ritter (Jude Law), and his wife, Dora (Vanessa Kirby), who reject societal standards and aim to build a self-reliant utopia on the island of Floreana, Eden sees the struggle of power, jealousy, and violence return when their peace is interrupted by other settlers.

Led by Law and Kirby, the movie features a stellar cast, including Ana de Armas as The Baroness, Sydney Sweeney as Margret, and Daniel Brühl as her husband Heinz. While the movie marked a thematic pivot for filmmaker Ron Howard in its exploration of dark themes, it also follows a director’s trend.

Eden Is Ron Howard’s Third Straight Based On A True Story Movie

And It Continues To Divide Critics

The 2025 psychological thriller is based on the true story of a group of European settlers who tried to establish a utopian community on Floreana Island in the Galápagos in the 1930s, where many died or disappeared. Previously, the director has done several movies based on real-life events.

His 2020 movie, Hillbilly Elegy, is based on JD Vance’s controversial memoir. With a 24% critical approval rate and 81% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie saw audiences and critics divided. While some complimented the movie’s accuracy in depicting life in rural Appalachia, many pointed out how Vance’s story itself had very little to do with the region, since his family moved away two generations before he was born.

Howard’s 2022 movie, Thirteen Lives, based on a 2018 mission to rescue a football team and a coach trapped in the Tham Luang cave, received overall positive feedback, but again, no overwhelming praise.

Eden follows the director’s trend of weaving true stories into the narrative of a feature movie, but it again had a mixed reception. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 51%, the movie has received both praise and criticism from critics. Some enjoyed the film’s examination of the dark side of human nature, but many also complained about the lack of focus despite having a star-studded cast.

It seems that Eden‘s treatment of real-life stories didn’t yield a masterpiece like A Beautiful Mind in critics’ eyes. However, how the audience would resonate with the movie is currently unknown. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Howard revealed that he spent weeks traveling around the Galápagos for research and actually found the cave where Sydney Sweeney’s character, Margret Wittmer, gave birth. Check out what he said below:

You look at the cave and you can’t imagine anyone endured this, but it happened.

While Eden is a work of fiction, it has a shocking number of ties to actual events as a result of careful examinations of contradictory accounts and thorough research. Here’s what the director said:

You’d be shocked at how acurrate the movie actually is. What was chilling about this story is that a handful of people went there and half of them either died or vanished—and that’s intense. That’s like a season of Survivor where people really don’t make it.

Friedrich and Dora came to the island to escape society, but what they tried to escape followed them to paradise.

Eden will be released in theaters on August 22, which will give audiences a chance to see Howard’s latest movie based on a true story. While the trend means that it may not have the award buzz, there is still a chance that audiences may appreciate the director’s efforts to integrate some of the historical events.

Source: Vanity Fair