Eden

Mia Hansen-Løve is a master of party scenes – the standout moments from her two previous features (Goodbye First Love and The Father of My Children) involve characters lost in a celebratory throng. Eden is one long party following Paul (Félix De Givry), a lanky and likeable DJ, as he floats through two decades on the fringes of the French house music scene. Success is always in sight but remains out of reach. What sustains him in the milieu is a palpable love for the music and a close-to-functioning coke addiction.

Written by Hansen-Løve with her DJ brother, Eden’s great strength is its lived-in authenticity. It’s a kind of vampire movie, with our protagonist trapped in the crepuscular purgatory of his early 20s. His friends swap clubbing for kids and early nights; Paul stagnates. The outlook isn’t wholly pessimistic though. When the soundtrack is pounding it’s easy to see why he got lost in the music. At one point Paul describes the tracks he spins as halfway between melancholy and euphoria. Hanson-Løve plays a similar tune.