Secrets of Eden (2012 TV Movie) User Reviews

Eden? More Like Hades **1/2

[edwagreen · 5/10 · 5 February 2012]

This movie boils down to moral justification for murder.

It deals with a female police detective obsessed with the idea that young town pastor put a bullet through the head of a man when he found out that the husband had strangled his wife. Of course, the pastor was carrying on an affair with the woman.

The usual subjects of spousal abuse appears with an insanely jealous husband.

The ending will throw you for a surprise but the film seems to go awry with the flashbacks. Perhaps, what was needed was many more suspects instead of concentrating on the pastor. It almost appears to obvious to be true.

Really moving

[ivegonemod · 18 August 2012]

I thought John Stamos was great in this. I had it on my DVR forever and finally decided to watch it. As someone who grew up watching her "father" abuse her mother, this one was a little tough for me. Did my "father" go as far as George did, not that I'm aware of, but it doesn't matter. George got what he deserved, and I couldn't stop myself from clapping and I was proud that his daughter didn't regret giving it to him and was not punished for it. It really doesn't need to be said that the wife shouldn't have taken George back, and that she shouldn't have kept proclaiming that George really did love her and that he didn't want to hurt her. It didn't look like he loved her to me, and he certainly wanted to hurt her. This was obviously a woman with no self worth, and when the pastor was no longer willing to play house while she was married to George, she figured that it was he who didn't really love her and that she should go back to the man who had no problem with breaking her arm and beating her senseless because he really did love her despite all that. In one scene she seems almost nonchalant after George apparently beat her head against a picture frame on a brick wall. How pathetic. I had sympathy for her, but she was so pathetic and useless and I didn't understand why she couldn't understand that George did not love her. Even if she decided to stay, why play dumb? Did she think he loved her while he was choking the life out of her too? Anyway, I figured all along that it was the daughter. I was 99% sure.

Don't bother

[five_ratbags · 1/10 · 6 October 2022]

The movie had potential to be good but fell over with the writers complete disregard for a man of God. The anger of the daughter towards what happened, the husbands inexcusable behaviour, the attractions that take place, are all understandable.

The actions of the pastor (although possible) were completely rubbish in this movie. His prayer in the middle of it, his comment that he couldn't help but think that it was part of 'God's plan', were all totally unrealistic and far from how the majority of pastors would behave. Any pastor worth his salt wouldn't have had the affair (although sadly it happens), but then to cover up the daughters actions! Seriously!!

Then the final line of the movie - what the hell are we teaching our kids?

Complete rubbish.

If Hallmark Made Murder Mysteries ...

[dcnfwrsgb · 2/10 · 15 February 2024]

... this would be it. Everything bright, shiny, and clean. Totally unrealistic lighting, sets, and locales. The cast looks - and talks - like they just popped in from, well, let's just say not Vermont where, by contrast, clothes tend to be more practical and makeup restrained (when worn at all).

The landscape? Definitely not Vermont.

Architecture? Definitely not Vermont.

Stamos plays an evangelical pastor with a big church in town. The center of town churches in New England, however, are typically the oldest mainline protestant denominations or Catholic. While there are exceptions, evangelical congregations tend to be small and their buildings tucked away somewhere. The evangelical content comes off as a non-sequitur in this context.

The plot is obvious. John Stamos' acting is wooden. Most of the rest of the cast is forgettable. I don't know where to place the responsibility other than the director, as the cast itself is certainly capable of better.

A fresh scrubbed murder mystery set among the beautiful people of the make-believe land of non-Vermont.

Awful. Just awful.

Surprisingly Good

[veronicammartin · 9/10 · 16 July 2015]

This is a surprisingly good film for an afternoon movie. My husband and I kept changing our minds about who had done it. There is a surprise at the end which we hadn't seen coming.

When there is an apparent murder/suicide in a small town, the detective who investigates finds evidence of an affair between a rather attractive pastor and the deceased woman.

The town scenes are attractively portrayed. The acting was very good all round and looking back there are clues along the way. The flashbacks were occasionally a bit confusing but at the end they seem to fit in with what has happened. Some of the flash backs were quite chilling and the pastor's calm persona was quite creepy at times.

I didn't expect much from an afternoon movie but this is well above average.

Excellent Movie!

[gingerschneider-345-423928 · 10/10 · 15 April 2012]

I really enjoyed this movie, was looking forward to watching it all week. I had read the book, and was really interested to see how they would condense it into a made for TV movie, and they did an excellent job. John Stamos played his part perfectly. He was genuine and charming. It 's hard for me not to picture him from his early General Hospital days as Blackie. He's just as handsome as he always was. Anna Gunn was also very good. She played the detective, set on imprisoning him. Surprise ending, that's for sure. You won't regret watching this one. I really enjoyed the acting. Pretty scenery. My entire family liked the movie. Very Good! I hope they replay it again soon, next time I will remember to set my dvr!

Very good movie

[pervezmoya · 8/10 · 8 August 2020]

It's a very good movie. It shows a typical american's perfect family who keeps it problems under look and key. A terrible story of violence it's developed inside until blow it in an aparent marriage's murder and suicide fact. The town's pastor, a detective, the daughter, some friends are involving while the plot is progresing, keeping your focused and finding intresting scenarios. The cast has good role-plays from John Stamos,Sonya Salomaa in the main characters and Anna Gunn playing an eager detective. Finally the set design is very attractive and pleasant to develop this awful story.

Pastoral Counseling

[lavatch · 9/10 · 2 July 2020]

First, he doinked her. Then, he dunked her. Finally, he dumped her. In a nutshell, that is gist of "Secrets in Eden" that tells a story of of forbidden, adulterous love between the local Pastor Drew and Alice Hayward. It all began with "pastoral counseling." It ended in a blood bath.

On the surface, the Haywards are the perfect family in the Eden of the film's title, which is the small town of Haverill. But beneath the superficial veneer, there is the underbelly of domestic abuse on the part of Alice's husband George. Alice wants to hold the marriage together in part because of her daughter Katie. But, at heart, Alice needs to be needed. In her affair with Pastor Drew, it is clear that the pastor does not "need" Alice. And his love is more profound because of that.

In the character of George Hayward, we have one of the most despicable cases of toxic masculinity ever to be presented in a Lifetime film. At one point, Alice made the decision to leave George. Then, she started the affair. When Pastor Drew broke it off, Alice made the fatal mistake of allowing George back into her life.

It is the baptism performed by the pastor on Alice dressed in a bathing suit that sets George off on his final, terroristic binge of wife battering out of his jealous stupor. He couldn't stand the thought of his wife getting dunked. Little did he realize that the results of his action would be getting his brains blown out by the most improbable of perpetrators.

The excellent character portraits combined with a taut screenplay to make "Secrets of Eden" a compelling film. The detective Catherine Benincasa stands for the audience in seeking a compelling motive from any of a variety of characters who might have plugged George Hayward in the back of the head.

The final minutes of the film are terrific in revealing a completely unexpected scenario of what happened in the Hayward home one day when Good Guy/Bad Guy George Hayward cracked, and life intruded to evoke tragedy. Such are the secrets behind closed doors and the tragic byproduct of pastoral counseling.

Anna Gunn makes it all worth it

[DavidSKS · 9/10 · 26 August 2017]

I am convinced Anna Gunn is the best thing to ever come out of New Mexico. She is one of the most talented actresses to ever grace a television screen. Her range is phenomenal. She shows it in Secrets of Eden as Detective Catherine Benincasa.

Ms. Gunn is an enchantress who will enrapture you no matter if you're watching Breaking Bad or this TV movie. If you love Anna, you'd better watch Secrets of Eden.

The only surprise here is how this piece ever made it out of the studio

[dikran-kayfian-216-385914 · 7 February 2012]

I love watching mystery movies for the pleasure of gathering clues along with the characters and trying to figure out who the killer is. I also love films made for TV. They have less of special effects, but more of emotions. I read the description of this one and was excited to see it. I shouldn't have expected that much however. The actors' work wasn't anything brilliant or memorable, the storyline goes rather slow and I figured out the ending after 1/3 of the movie passed. I guess, this piece can be offered to people who like to watch an afternoon drama while ironing or solving a crossword. If you are a fan of crime however, skip it. It's too simple and too uneventful. No twists, no surprises.

Yuk

[geoffox-766-418467 · 10 June 2017]

Horrible movie and waste of John Stamos. I have always liked his work on stage and in film. His Emcee in Cabaret on Broadway was brilliant. It is sad to see him in this trite silly movie. As for the annoying Anna Gumm as a nosy detective. With her sleepy eyes (like she's half awake) I was voting for Stanos to knock her off. Her level of acting is on a monotonous level matching her monotonous looking face. As the victim Sonya Solomaa was as boring. Never have like her with her large mouth and all the teeth. Here she has that long teenage hair which she's much too old for a 42 year old actress. Tired of watching these over the hill actresses trying to look young. Oh, and the raccoon eye make up on Miss Gumm. Laughable.