The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

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The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

2014

2h 0m

Drama

Biography

Crime

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Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

53 Reviews

63%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Dr. Fredrich Ritter and his lover Dore Strauch have their idyllic lives on an island invaded by a baroness and her two young lovers.

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Critics Consensus

It doesn't quite live up to its marvelously lurid premise, but The Galapagos Affair is still stranger than fiction in a very entertaining way.

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Ryan Gilbey

New Statesman

The wealth of letters and journals, read by a strong cast that includes Diane Kruger and Connie Nielsen, provides an instant emotional charge.

Jul 31, 2014

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Charlotte O'Sullivan

London Evening Standard

To make a thrilling documentary about the past, you need dead people who were honest or creative in ways you can exploit. This extraordinary film, which deconstructs a murder mystery from the Thirties, has such people in spades.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 25, 2014

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Quite a few pounds of fat could have been cut from this film, but it's a remarkable tale.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 24, 2014

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Robin Holabird

Robin Holabird

The two-hour documentary provides plenty of background information for a stop on Floreana...

Aug 24, 2021

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Elissa Suh

StageBuddy.com

The film builds tension slowly and steadily and shows the stuff of true crime in an exotic land. The directors resist sensationalizing, and instead mete out the story in thorough--perhaps too thorough-- details.

Mar 16, 2020

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Ben Nicholson

CineVue

A real-life whodunnit provides a riveting narrative backbone, but despite some juicy melodrama, this languid doc never quite lives up the intrigue of its central conundrum.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 3, 2019

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Audience Member

Interesting story of life at the edge of the earth, but it kind of peters out rather than ending.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

A European couple's escape from the hustle and bustle of civilization to a life of seclusion in one of the previously uninhabited Galapagos islands takes a turn when others move in. Drama, crime and intrigue ensue. Though at times difficult to watch, this movie serves as a good exposition of the charms and pitfalls of small island life.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

The truth is stranger...

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Audience Member

This film puts a FULL stop in the arguments about Heaven and Hell. It's simple, we carry the Hell with us, wherever we go we will bring it along. There has never been Satan in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve corrupted their Paradise with their own hands.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

A true unsolved mystery! And yet another reason why I never want to live on an island.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

I love these true-life mystery documentaries, especially when there is film footage of the major players. This one's set in the 1930s on the Galapagos Island of Floreana. A German couple moves there to get away from society, only to have another German family and a French Baroness (with two boyfriends) settle there, too. It all goes downhill from there. Four people disappear - two are never found, two are found and it's not good. I was fascinated from start to finish. Recommended for anyone who likes to discover lesser-known historical events, especially murder mysteries.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Dan Geller

Director

Dayna Goldfine

Director

Cate Blanchett

Dore Strauch

Thomas Kretschmann

Friedrich Ritter

Josh Radnor

John Garth

Diane Kruger

Margret Wittmer

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Synopsis

Dr. Fredrich Ritter and his lover Dore Strauch have their idyllic lives on an island invaded by a baroness and her two young lovers.

Director: Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine
Producer: Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine, Celeste Schaefer Snyder
Screenwriter: Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine, Celeste Schaefer Snyder
Distributor: Zeitgeist Films
Production Co: Geller/Goldfine Productions
Genre: Drama, Biography, Crime
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 4, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $247.2K
Runtime: 2h 0m

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