Megan Griffith’s third foray into independent cinema navigates the realm of the grey moral area.
A surprisingly restrained effort by lead Jamie Chung uncovers the insidious and dangerous will to survive.
Innocuous teenager, Hyun Jae, is taken from a bar in New Mexico and the next thing she knows she awakes in a sterile hospital room in a morphine haze. The initial speedy turn of events leaves you with mild whip lash but this isn’t necessarily a criticism. The tense realism created by the direction is something akin to a Carl Hiaasen novel.
As she comes out of her drug-fuelled stupor, Hyun Jae realises that she has become initiated into the most organised sex-trafficking outfit in Las Vegas.
Unconcerned by sensationalism, Griffith showcases the sterile yet shocking environment these teenage girls will all soon call home. There is no real visual nudity or obtuse sexual violence; this story says what it needs to without gravitating to such methods. It speaks volumes in a film bereft of dialogue.
The most depraved element of the expose is the intricate and highly organised machinations of the sex trafficking network.
In the form of corrupt Federal Marshal Bob Gault, Beau Bridges plays a haunting ghost of modern day Iago. His two-faced dealings with the police force allow many of the manoeuvres to go ahead unnoticed. Passports, files on the families of these young sex slaves and kittens are all in the arsenal used to keep the outfit afloat.
The young girls’ babies become yet another commodity on offer in this tale of human trafficking. However it is Matt O’Leary’s depiction of Gault’s wildly erratic , drug addled number two, that is the most provocative element of the film.
Although the raison d’être of this film may be to showcase the elaborate web that is the sex trafficking industry, the real story lies in the disturbing relationship between Jamie and Vaughn (O’Leary) – a relationship forged out of mutual survival instinct.
Occupied in the space between right and wrong, survival and acceptance, this film proves a compelling watch.
Eden is released on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD on September 9. Visit here for more information.
Image courtesy of Phase 4 Films via YouTube, with thanks.
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