Island of Reckoning: Ron Howard’s “Eden” Reimagines the Galápagos Affair as a Psychological Thriller
Escapist fantasies often idealize untouched nature as a peaceful sanctuary where humans coexist harmoniously with animals and plants. But in Ron Howard’s new film Eden, reality quickly shatters this illusion. Based on true events, the film follows the Wittmer family, who arrive on Floreana Island in the Galápagos in the winter of 1932 with hopes of starting anew.
Heinz Wittmer, his wife Margaret, and their ailing son Harry embark on a grueling sea journey inspired by newspaper stories about Friedrich Ritter—a former doctor turned self-proclaimed philosopher—who had left Europe to pursue a secluded, natural life on the island. Ritter claimed to have healed his partner Dora Strauch’s multiple sclerosis with clean air and a strict plant-based diet. But the Wittmers soon learn that these claims were greatly exaggerated.
Dora is far from cured. She limps through the garden with a cane and barely acknowledges the new arrivals with a curt nod. Ritter, too, meets them with cold indifference. While mildly flattered by the media coverage of his lifestyle, he is far less enthused by the idea of sharing the island. Begrudgingly, he leads the Wittmers to a rocky, inhospitable section of Floreana, hoping the harsh conditions—mosquitoes, wild dogs, and scarce drinking water—will drive them away.
What Ritter underestimates is the desperation that led the Wittmers to abandon their life in Germany. Heinz, deeply traumatized by his experiences in World War I, and Harry, who suffers from a serious lung condition, had little left after postwar hyperinflation wiped out their savings. They spent the last of their money on the voyage to the Galápagos. A retreat to a sanatorium was financially impossible.
Determined to survive, Heinz sets to work. He clears sand and rocks, constructs a bamboo water system, and begins building a small hut. Within weeks, the area around their cave begins to resemble a livable homestead—more productive and orderly than anything Ritter had managed in his years on the island. But just as the balance of island life starts to shift, a new presence disrupts the fragile order.
Another boat arrives, this time carrying an eccentric woman wrapped in silk. She introduces herself as Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn, a self-styled baroness with grand dreams of building a luxury hotel on the beach. Alongside her are two dubious companions who seem less like business partners and more like loyal henchmen. Her flamboyant vision instantly clashes with the austere lifestyles of both the Wittmers and Ritter’s couple.
A Real-Life Mystery Turned Psychological Thriller
In Eden, director Ron Howard transforms the infamous “Galápagos Affair” into a taut psychological thriller. The historical mystery, which gripped international headlines in the mid-1930s, resulted in the unexplained deaths of three people. Rather than offering simple answers, Howard crafts a tense narrative where conflicting ambitions, shifting alliances, and personal trauma collide in an isolated paradise.
He treats the island like a sociological experiment, placing each group of settlers under a microscope. The Wittmers, the baroness and her entourage, and Ritter with Dora all harbor incompatible dreams and stubborn ideals. What none of them seem to grasp is that survival on such an unforgiving island demands cooperation.
Instead, the settlers descend into a maze of rivalries, suspicion, and manipulation. Temporary truces form and dissolve, driven by self-interest rather than necessity. The baroness’s ostentatious plans and erratic behavior quickly unsettle the fragile community, while Ritter’s philosophical detachment renders him ill-equipped to deal with escalating tensions. Even the resourceful Heinz finds himself drawn into a web of psychological warfare.
Eden doesn’t just recount historical events—it probes the darker corners of human nature. What happens when idealism meets reality? When utopian dreams become a struggle for dominance? And when paradise turns into a battleground?
In this gripping retelling, Howard blurs the lines between survival and sabotage, making Eden not just a film about escaping society, but about the high cost of isolation, ego, and broken trust.
