Really strong lead performance anchors this exceptional drama. The lead actress appears in about every frame and holds it well. People throw around the term 'brave performance' a lot, but it is very apt here. Her journey was truly harrowing.

The final image is powerful.

Big recommend.

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Writer/director Beth Dewey delivers a deeply layered and ultimately fascinating character study of a pending bride in turmoil in her wonderful film Erasing Eden.

Brenda Wool plays bride-to-be Eden with all the nuance absolutely required to pull off a role of this expertly-constructed depth. As Eden appears in our consciousness, she's in the desert on her wedding day - bloodied and thrashed to the nines - and we realize full well that we're operating within the context of a situation loaded to the gills with impending threat. It's here that we learn that Dewey has made a high-risk, high-reward creative decision: She's given her character a broken jaw. In addition to her clearly presented physical vulnerabilities, Eden can't speak, and yet must procure small gifts of human kindness from total strangers as she seeks firmer footing. The extent of Eden's dialogue, therefore, is encapsulated in her revisitations of self-encouraging voice messages she'd previously left for herself; little affirmations she'd one day need to endure the moments of doubt and make it over the hump, coupled with revelations that illuminate Eden as a self-saboteur. It must be said that these past iterations of hope - counterpointed against the tormented reality of what we've learned has since become a mental breakdown - make for some highly engaging and uniquely-presented storytelling.

Ultimately, Erasing Eden spotlights a singular human being's own internal struggles; the relatable push-and-pull between making committed decisions and the daunting psychological fallout we can realize as it comes time to actualize them. In a day and age in which so many of us are seeking benefit from better understanding our own psychological drivers, this is a film that offers deeply fascinating insight packaged within some truly expert indie filmmaking.

I completely and thoroughly enjoyed this film from beginning to end! This is what I appreciate about indie filmmaking, the originality! I couldn't mentally jump ahead because this film was not predictable. The director, Beth Dewey, did a terrific job at keeping this film moving along. I didn't find myself taking any snack breaks or playing around with my iPhone. This film has a great story and the acting was spot on. Clearly this gem of a film gets two thumbs up from!!