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Eden: Is the thriller starring Jude Law and Sydney Sweeney worth watching?
More than three years after the release of Thirteen Lives, director Ron Howard unveils Eden. His latest feature is now available on Prime Video since October 24th, 2025. Despite its dazzling cast, including Ana de Armas, Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby, and Daniel Brühl, the thriller struggles to win over viewers…
Eden by Ron Howard with Jude Law and Ana de Armas
Two decades after taking home multiple Oscars, including the one for Best Director at the 74th Academy Awards for A Beautiful Mind (2002), American filmmaker Ron Howard makes a long-awaited comeback with a thriller that divides the critics.
In Eden, available on Prime Video since October 24th, 2025, the director delivers a plot built around murder and survival. A group of individuals chooses to abandon civilisation to settle in the Galápagos Islands.
An “Eden” too perfect to be true?
The film draws us into an unsettling atmosphere within this survivor encampment. Lush nature, unpredictable weather, and a clear lack of resources… Rather than selling us a paradise illusion, Ron Howard uses the thriller genre, one filled with chaos and power struggles. The most surprising part? Eden is inspired by a true story. Yet, the director fails to truly captivate the audience. The biggest issues lies in the character development – overly caricatured and barely developed – and plot. Overall it unfolds far too slowly.
Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl… A dazzling cast
Still, Eden boasts an undeniably impressive cast. After casting Colin Farrell and Viggo Mortensen in Thirteen Lives (2022), or Amy Adams and Glenn Close in Hillbilly Elegy (2020), Ron Howard once again gathers Hollywood giants in his new feature.
Cuban actress Ana de Armas, recently seen in the high-octane film Ballerina (2025) alongside Keanu Reeves, plays a wealthy heiress whose arrival on the island disrupts the fragile balance among its inhabitants. Joining her is German actor Daniel Brühl, brilliant in the biographical series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld (2024).
Jude Law, recently featured in The Order (2025) presented at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, embodies philosopher Dr. Friedrich Ritter in Eden. Alongside his wife Dora (Vanessa Kirby), the couple settles on a deserted island, seeking to be completely self-sufficient.
As for American actress Sydney Sweeney – soon to star in the third season of Euphoria and many other upcoming projects – she takes on the role of Margret.
Eden (2025), directed by Ron Howard, is available now on Prime Video.
