Some movies unfurl slowly. The characters draw you in and then gradually reveal themselves, allowing the audience to see, feel, and breathe their world through their point of view, regardless of how ugly or boring it may be. The indie movie Eden (Liberation Entertainment) is one such movie.
Irish director Declan Recks expertly adapts writer Eugene O'Brien's award-winning play about a marriage teetering on the brink of extinction while exposing the tedium and underlying staleness that many couples experience after growing too comfortable with each other. Billy and Brenda Farrell's relationship is hanging by a thread, though a glimmer of hope exists as they plan to rekindle their passion for each other on the eve of their 10th wedding anniversary in their small Irish town.
Starring the riveting Eileen Walsh (best actress, Tribeca Film Festival) and Aidan Kelly, these actors channel real-people issues; no cotton candy Hollywood gloss, nor art-house pretentiousness. Billy, like many men looking for some spark in a dulled marriage, allows the illusion of friendliness with a young Irish lass to fuel his lust. His wife, Brenda, wrestles with her own maudlin matters. All the while she silently tries to make him take notice of her amid their horribly boring suburban existence. Most nights she sits on the couch watching the tube with their two equally bored children while dad heads to the pub to seek solace with his mates. Then upon his return she feigns sleep, anxiously awaiting his touch to resuscitate their flat-lined sex life.
This loveless existence plays out over and over again until the evening of their anniversary and the promise of rekindled passions. While the third act's climax is a tad melodramatic, the language and the honesty that reveals itself save the film from collapsing into cinematic cliche. Regardless, this indie is worth the effort.