Today’s SIFF Pick: Eden
Jamie Chung stars as Hyun Jae, nickname Eden.
Given how moody and melancholic a roadside diner could be in Megan Griffiths’s debut feature, The Off Hours, it’s no surprise the Seattle director has a deft hand with even harsher material. In this case, child sex trafficking. In America. And it’s based on a true story. Jamie Chung (The Hangover II) plays a New Mexico teen who’s kidnapped and imprisoned as a sex slave in a sort-of desert brothel—in reality, a storage facility—run by a corrupt federal marshal. (Yes. Awful.) The subject matter will leave you exhausted, but Griffiths doesn’t resort to sexploitation to tell "Eden’s" story. It’s one of the most engrossing, and important, films you’ll see during SIFF.
Screenings: May 21 at 4:30 (SIFF Cinema Uptown), May 29 at 8:30 (Everett Performing Arts Center). Director Megan Griffiths is scheduled to attend both screenings.
