SummaryEden, a young Korean-American girl, is abducted and forced into prostitution by a human trafficking ring. Held for two years, Eden reluctantly ensures her own survival by carving out power and influence within the very organization that has imprisoned her.
SummaryEden, a young Korean-American girl, is abducted and forced into prostitution by a human trafficking ring. Held for two years, Eden reluctantly ensures her own survival by carving out power and influence within the very organization that has imprisoned her.
Eden is never less than suspenseful, but rather than sentimentally pander to easy outrage, or indulge in icky women-in-distress titillation, the movie...zeros in on the details of how dignity can be stripped like bark from a tree, and the queasy determination it takes to stay alive in a living hell.
Kudos to Megan Griffiths and Colin Harper Plank for having the guts to make this movie. Based on the life of a real woman, this film is spot on in terms of the way it depicts human trafficking. Griffiths positions us as observers of the horror experienced by Eden and her fellow captives, without resorting to sensationalism. Jamie Chung is excellent as Eden; she embodies the character perfectly with just the right mix of fear and resolve. Despite their circumstances, Eden and many of her fellow captives somehow manage to maintain their humanity. Beau Bridges is uncharacteristically and convincingly creepy in this one, and Tantoo Cardinal is amazing and frightening as the cold-hearted "nurse" to the captive girlsThe story is not easy to watch, but I highly recommend this film.
A big surprise to me, expecting mediocrity. His is a strong film in all aspects, and deserves a big audience. Based on a true life story, this tells the true nature of human trafficking. Beautifully photographed, strongly told story, with quality all along.
This is the second best film on this topic I ever saw, and is recommended.
Violence is subtle, main driving force is heart and feelings, though the film has a beautiful nerve.
Be sure to catch it!
A few moments harp on the sentimental, but overall, this is a powerful addition to the small collection of films dedicated to spreading awareness of this horrific crime.
Enough films about human trafficking have been made in recent years that the outlines of Eden should be painfully familiar. But that familiarity doesn’t cushion this movie’s excruciating vision.
For as studiously as Griffiths avoids cheap exploitation, the film has an overall structure that isn’t as far removed from a Roger Corman “women in prison” movie as it appears.
Really good film in my opinion, depicting the human trafficking that happens in the dark corners of this world. Basically a girl gets kidnapped and has to work as a sex slave (not exactly that, but something similar) and it depicts how she eventually gets through it and takes the revenge. The only thing I didn't like was that it ended quite abruptly in my opinion, without showing how some things ended, plus some parts were a bit unreallistic. Still, it made me think about all this in the actual real life, it was a strong story, vivid picture and a scary, but good movie.
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.
The best thing about the movie is a good cinema score and a competent lead actress. The worst thing is an overly dramatised story that pushes the bounds of believability. I don't know enough about the author or her situation to make a point about the truth of her account but I do know there are better examples of this type of story out there. Checkout "The Jammed' an Australian movie with another (far better) take on the issue.