The true story of the Galápagos Affair, as it was labelled by the tabloids, is a fascinating one. Accounts vary, but the facts most seem to agree on are as follows: in the 1930s, a group of Europeans settled on the remote Galápagos island of Floreana, including a family man and his wife, a self-styled Baroness, and a German philosopher with steel teeth. Eventually, the Baroness and one of her lovers went missing. Rumours of murder, blackmail or other foul play quickly spread.

The affair forms the basis of Eden , a film that a title card tells us is “inspired by the accounts of those who survived”. It is perhaps the darkest work yet from Ron Howard, a filmmaker known for his sentimental bent: a film with very few Beautiful Minds and far more Demons than Angels. It is adult in its themes,

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