The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden
Zeitgeist Films | Release Date: April 4, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 10, 2014
There's nothing like a good story, and The Galapagos Affair: Satan Comes to Eden has a great one that grabs viewers from the first minute and holds on for two solid hours. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanApr 24, 2014
This compelling piece of historical detective work is, in fact, less about what people have done to the islands than about what living on the islands has done to people. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlApr 1, 2014
Goldfine and Geller pace and structure The Galapagos Affair like the true-crime tale that it is, its mysteries rich and involving, its characters enduring in the imagination long after the film has ended. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniMay 9, 2014
A dazzling documentary. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 4, 2014
One of those stranger-than-fiction documentaries that just gets weirder and weirder as you’re watching it. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 3, 2014
A stranger-than-fiction gem. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 15, 2014
The directors include interviews with descendants of the original settlers and with later arrivals — too much so, actually, as the lengthy scenes interrupt the flow of the mystery. But they don't derail it. The story is too lurid, too rich, too compelling. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyApr 21, 2014
After building up a narrative head of steam, the film relaxes too much back into expository documentary form. What might have been thrilling is merely entirely engrossing. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranApr 17, 2014
Directors Goldfine and Geller tell their story with such engaged confidence that we are swept along to its wild end. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Robert Everett GreenApr 10, 2014
Geller and Goldfine keep the story taut and engaging, except when they get distracted by the current inhabitants of Floreana, who say mostly unsurprising things about living on a remote island. Read full review
67
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthApr 14, 2014
What should be a gripping, true crime/mystery story gets often bogged down by a lack of focus from filmmakers Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, who don't always realize the central saga can stand well enough on its own. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloApr 4, 2014
Unfortunately, while there’s enough fascinating material here for an hour-long documentary, this one runs two hours, with most of the present-day talking-head footage (interspersed throughout, to momentum-halting effect) feeling irrelevant. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 5, 2018
Adding more sources to the story don’t illuminate it, they extend it to no avail, turning a 90 minute movie into two hours that still don’t make the informed guessing more informed, or more entertaining. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryMay 8, 2014
The Galapagos Affair spins a strange and compelling tale, with perfectly sinister music by Laura Karpman setting the mood. But the movie is better at building suspense than following through. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyApr 4, 2014
The best part may very well be an actual 1932 silent movie, filmed on Floreana, and shown in its entirety in "Galapagos Affair". Read full review
63
Slant MagazineWes GreeneMar 31, 2014
The material and resources are certainly substantial, but the filmmakers clumsily weave separate stories together without detailing anything beyond a tangential relation. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen HoldenApr 3, 2014
The Galapagos Affair would be a much stronger film were it not padded with the dull reminiscences and speculation of the settlers’ descendants. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichApr 1, 2014
All of this is fascinating in the moment, yet the doc never yokes all these threads into anything particularly deep or illuminating. The Galapagos Affair is less social commentary, more gossip. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughApr 17, 2014
Strauch’s orotund prose sounds much like that of Werner Herzog, but without the irony. Herzog’s sensibility is missed here; he could have made a masterpiece about the absurdity of these deluded seekers of Eden. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 3, 2014
How anyone could make such an uninvolving movie out of such a fascinating subject remains its own inexplicable mystery. Read full review
40
The DissolveAndrew LapinApr 2, 2014
Panning across still photos and scouring island maps like Ken Burns hunting for treasure, Geller and Goldfine (Ballets Russes) whittle a truly insane murder mystery into a competent artifact for Weird History buffs. Read full review
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