''Edén'' is a 2022 Spanish psychological drama film directed and written by Estefanía Cortés which stars

Charlotte Vega Charlotte Elizabeth Vega (born 10 February 1994) is a Spanish actress, best known for her role in the 2014 Spanish film ''The Misfits Club'', the lead role in the 2017 Irish film ''The Lodgers (2017 film), The Lodgers'', and main roles in two ...

alongside

Marta Nieto Marta Nieto Martínez (born 31 January 1982) is a Spanish actress and film director. Life and career Marta Nieto Martínez was born on 31 January 1982 in Murcia to parents from Cartagena, Spain, Cartagena. She developed a vocation for acting ...

Ramón Barea José Ramón Barea Monge (born 13 July 1949), known as Ramón Barea, is a Spanish actor. Biography José Ramón Barea Monge was born in Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Bis ...

, and Israel Elejalde.

Plot

A young woman (Marina) moves to a remote centre run by a clandestine company set to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. There she meets three other people with different backgrounds (Lidia, Félix, and Victor).

Cast

Production

''Edén'' is a Montreux Entertainment, La Caña Brothers, La Colmena and El Edén AIE production, with participation of TVE and Aragón Televisión. It was fully shot in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

from October to November 2021, including the in the

province of Huesca Huesca (; ), officially Huesca/Uesca, is a province of northeastern Spain, in northern Aragon. The capital is Huesca. Positioned just south of the central Pyrenees, Huesca borders France and the French departments of Haute-Garonne, Pyrénées- ...

and outdoor locations in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

mountains.

Release

The film had its

world premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

in the 'Meeting Point' section of the 67th

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

(Seminci) on 24 October 2022. Distributed by Syldavia, it was theatrically released in Spain on 28 October 2022.

Reception

Manuel J. Lombardo of ''

Diario de Sevilla ''Diario de Sevilla'' is a Spanish newspaper founded in 1999 in Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It i ...

'' rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, considering that the film—a "flawed" attempt to either open a debate or reflect on euthanasia—ends up looking too much at its own navel and "those of creatures that, with the exception of the one played by Ramón Barea, look like laboratory robots in a sad, old-fashioned existentialist theatre performance". Mikel G. Gurpegui of ''

El Correo ''El Correo'' (; ) is a leading daily newspaper in Bilbao and the Basque Country of northern Spain. It is among best-selling general interest newspapers in Spain. History and profile The brothers Ybarra y de la Revilla – Fernando, Gabriel and ...

'' rated the film 1 out of 5 stars, underscoring how "the atmosphere created is not enough, some sequences border on the ridiculous and morbidity wins the battle against depth", with the more the protagonists talk, the more feigned it all sounds. David Pardillos of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost po ...

'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, considering that even if the mise-en-scene could be too rough, the attempt to confront ourselves with such an important issue is laudable.

References