Greetings again from the darkness. "It's us or them." That's a line spoken by one of the ICE officers after a particularly physical and dangerous altercation with an illegal immigrant. In this particular instance, the words ring true. However, writer-director Marco Perego and co-writer Rick Rapoza show both sides of this coin that has generated so much passionate debate among politicians and the citizenry. The film strives to show the humanity of all involved, and how a lack of humanity can cause more problems than it solves.

Garrett Hedlund (MUDBOUND, 20 17) stars as Shipp, a new ICE recruit. We see him volunteer to be first in the "Taser Training" so that he knows what the recipient experiences. He's a man of few words, though he seems smitten with his girlfriend Yadira (Adria Arjona, MORBIUS, 2022), a single mom who may or may not be withholding pertinent information. Shipp's more experienced ICE partner, Dobbins (Chris Coy, THE KILLING OF TWO LOVERS), is the one who speaks the line of dialogue quoted above. Dobbins has a singular view of his job and of those crossing the border illegally, while Shipp is a bit more confused on how best to handle things.

The other key story here revolves around Esmee (Zoe Saldana, Gamora in the Marvel Universe). She's an exotic dancer in Mexico until her self-defense against one customer goes sideways and she's forced to flee. Her trek to the border finds her protecting a young girl, and then getting dragged into the underworld. There is a scene with a drug dealer that features one of my cinematic pet peeves. Why is it when a drug dealer gives a phone to someone and tells them to keep it on at all times, they never furnish a charger? I can understand a lack of respect, but that phone isn't going to last long without a charger. Just a minor rant that I often need to release after a movie.

Director Perego is a renowned conceptual artist and he's married to Zoe Saldana. Together they depict the realities at the U. S. southern border. ICE is working to follow guidelines, while immigrants are in search of a better life. Things sometimes don't work out well for either. We see the ICE raids and we see the daily struggles of immigrants. Despite this, there seems to be no solution in sight, so the conflicts carry on day after day.

Opens in theaters on April 12, 2024.

Directed and co-written by Marco Perego. A runtime of one hour and twenty-five minutes. Streaming on Hulu with an R rating.

"Carmen," played by Zoe Saldana, is a stripper in Mexico. After getting into a situation, she flees Mexico for America. During this process, she connects with a little girl making this journey with her mother. But crossing the border is no joke, and it's a very ugly business. "Carmen" forcibly gets roped into the Cartel's plans.

"Shipp," played by Garrett Hedlund, is a new ICE agent in Texas. He's trying to learn the ropes from a more experienced agent named "Dobbins," played by Christian Coy. But is constantly running into situations that are not so black and white. "Shipp" moral compass is in overdrive. Things don't get any better when he starts dating "Yadira," played by Adria Arjona.

This film tells the story of two polarizing characters coming from opposite walks of life. While potentially being united by an unlikely person.

"The Absence of Eden" stayed true to its name. Immigrants are a heavy topic nowadays, but this film shows how someone can become an immigrant just like that. This film does a good job of taking the viewer under the hood of that entire ecosystem engine.

Even showing the ICE agent's perspective. How one person has a heart and the other is cold from the job. It also shows how things are way more complicated even on that side of the fence.

All the actors did a great job. I felt like casting was one of the strong elements of this film. You have to be able to act good to deal with this subject matter correctly.

Adria Arjona is becoming a star. I've written about her a lot, I feel like. She's getting a lot of work. Adria is beautifully stunning and talented. She has a bright future ahead of her in this business.

My only gripe with this film was that it was very short. Also, it had a clear vision, but it lacked something. The story was completed but didn't feel complete. I just felt like I wanted a little more. I get it; they wanted to show the real side of the "illegal immigrant crisis." But they were things-one specific matter that was supposed to be one of the main plots of the film but instead just became part of the storyline.

Overall, a decent film. I give it three mor fires ???.

#CosmoandtheMovieWithin #CosmoMovieBlog #CosmoLanier #TheAbsceneofEden.

I didn't have too much to say about this, it just felt incredibly short. Looking at the themes and scenarios the movie explored, the movie does so only at surface level. I think the intro to Esmeralda raised the tension quite quickly, we're introduced to her in a pretty dicey scenario. It gave insight into her decision to leave. There wasn't too much I disliked about it. One specific thing was the pep talks by the coyote - like he's a good kind hearted coyote? But it wasn't something that bothered me too much. The story is alright, tragic but not particularly moving. I don't think the stuff about the grandma added much to the film, all the stories and narrations from her diary. The movie had pretty good and consistent atmosphere, a dark tone. The big issue is that it just ends out of nowhere, like I was in and out the theatre. Even the subplots end abruptly, logically but abruptly. Like Adria Arjona character feels like an important part of the movie then she's just no longer there. The conflicts the movie has are resolved pretty quickly, made the movie anticlimactic. A few twists and turns wouldn't have hurt the movie. Otherwise not bad, nothing special.