ridiculous rating

Lack of good storyline.

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

How to describe this film? A sick fantasy about the modern day white slave trade, except the girls come in a variety of different colours. Eden is the daughter of Korean parents; she is kidnapped from a bar, transported to a remote secret prison, and schooled to be a prostitute. Prostitution is a voluntary act, so this is actually rape, but as the "johns" appear not to know the score it is her gaolers rather than them who are the rapists.What else do we have? If an organisation like this could exist in modern day America, it would require some inside men; here we have one corrupt law enforcement official, who early on murders two men in cold blood, one of them a fellow deputy. Eden is spirited, but after a failed escape attempt decides to throw in her lot with one of her captors, or does she? No, it is obvious she is only biding her time; best not to wait too long though, because an hour into the film her predecessor, Svetlana, is sleeping with the fishes.

A small budget movie with a big story to tell, Megan Griffith's (no relation to Jordan, as far as we know) Eden is a movie that despite its limitations set forward by its financers is a movie that remains constantly engaging from start to finish even though it never reaches any great emotionally affecting heights that makes you think this story could easily be done once more in a manner that would make the most out of an horrific yet worthy true story.There have not yet been many high profile movies set around the hot topic of sex trafficking/slavery yet there are now many stories out there told by real life participants in what is one of the world's most lucrative and shameful industries. Eden is based on the real life tale (or is it real?) of Chong Kim here portrayed by the capable Jamie Chung who while not instilling Eden with a huge emotional heft, has many fine moments in a role that would of required a lot of her emotionally. While Chung is good as Eden the film finds a real power in its supports from grown up Frailty child actor Matt O'Leary and veteran character actor Beau Bridges.O'Leary as young drug addicted runner of the operation Vaughan and Bridges as Marshall/slavery organiser Bob Gault are both great in some very creepy turns. Vaughan in particular is an on edge and believable participant in this horrific business while Bridges oozes slim as cold and calculating Marshall Gault. With these fine turns by the two male leads it acts as a showcase for just what Eden could have been had it found a way to tap emotionally into what these situations really meant for these poor women and those invested into it financially and while director Griffiths has enough flair behind the camera to suggest she has a career in the industry there needs to be more thought on how to wring the most out of her stories.Eden is a small film worthy of your time, if not only to highlight the oft forgotten world that it depicts in all its unsavoury and harsh elements. With some very fine support turns and with a finely tuned pacing, Eden is a low budget film once more showcasing that budget does not make or break a movie if it has a worthy story to tell even if the film squanders a chance to make the most of its emotionally ripe story.3 stiletto shoe heels out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check into - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

I just saw this movie on Netflix and I absolutely loved it. Unlike some who have posted reviews here, I thought it was a realistic portrayal of a real-life human trafficking story. The thing to remember watching this is that IT's A MOVIE ... Every single detailed cannot be included. For instance, the opening scenes where Eden gives her mother some pullback over curfew time, sneaks outside to smoke, engages in underage drinking, and leaves with/kisses a guy she just met seemed to be a summary or microcosm of her rebelliousness and permiscuousness. No where did the director/writer imply that Eden was perfectly innocent as some have suggested.I thought the writer did a good job compressing likely a ton of pertinent experiences into a movie. The underground sex-slave culture was successfully portrayed as well. I, myself, saw no need for additional sex scenes to sell help sell concept, it's rather obvious. This movie has a good balance.of drama and gore. The Sheriff pimp was so despicable it was easy to despise him, while his helper "Vaughn" (along with others) thought of the whole operation merely as work, showing no guilt or remorse for their actions. I also liked that the global aspect of trafficking was addressed as the trafficking group's operation extended to Dubai.I would have liked to have seen the outcome of the other trafficking workers, who didn't die (e.g. Nurse lady). We're left to assume they made it to Dubai. And yes, there were slight overlooks (albeit present in every movie), such as characters who died rather quickly after being injected with unidentified drugs. But overall, a really good movie that I plan to buy.As a hobbyist music composer I have to say that I really enjoyed the music score, not overdone, but just enough to set the atmosphere of each scene. I love how the ambient guitars and keyboards provided a lush backdrop for the sex and drug theme.

To me, films like this are the true definition of horror, because they really happened. Anyone can look up the graphic details on Wikipedia and see that not only did it happen here, but it happened fairly recently. Hyun-Jae was just a typical California teenager, who went out to party one night. She met a man, left with him, and quickly learned he wasn't what he appeared to be. Hyun-Jae is sold into prostitution and has no other choice, but to be a sex slave for the next three years. The film was very well done, in that it didn't go over the top. Abduction of Eden showed us, what we needed to see, in order to understand and be shocked by what happened, but it didn't go so far as to desensitize us to the story. Jamie Chung, A.K.A. Stu's wife from the Hangover, stars as Hyun Jae, and her performance was really key to how the audience would react to what was happening. Equally as good, was the jailer, Matthew O'Leary. It took me a while to recognize his as the kid from Domestic Disturbance and Spy Kids 2, and it was shocking to see how quickly he grew up. He was this horrible guy, doing terrible things, but there was a part of you that saw him as trapped as the girls were and you couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The cast makes the film, it's as simple as that. Abduction of Eden was a story that was fast moving and somewhat graphic, but ultimately predictable. Films like this one could go either way, it all comes down to just what they show and who they cast, and the producers of this film did an outstanding job of both.