Florence Pugh in “East of Eden.”
NETFLIX
East of Eden, a new Netflix miniseries based on John Steinbeck’s classic novel starring Florence Pugh, is attracting positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes critics.
Created by Zoe Kazan, East of Eden — which consists of seven episodes — premiered on Netflix on Thursday. Zoe Kazan’s version of East of Eden is an adaptation of Steinbeck’s entire 1952 book, whereas her grandfather Elia Kazan’s 1955 classic film of the same name starring James Dean adapts the fourth part of the sprawling novel.
Set in the farmlands of the Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden follows the multigenerational story of the Trask family and how their lives with the Hamilton family intertwine. Pugh (Thunderbolts*) stars the antihero Cathy Ames, while Christopher Abbott (Professor X in the upcoming X-Men reboot) plays her husband, Adam. Mike Faist (Challengers) also stars as Adam’s half-brother, Charles, while Ciarán Hinds (Belfast) plays Hamilton family patriarch Samuel.
Rated TV-MA, East of Eden also stars Hoon Lee, Tracy Letts, Martha Pimpton, Joseph Zada and Joe Anders.
As of Thursday morning, Zoe Kazan’s East of Eden has earned an 89% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 27 reviews. RT’s Critics Consensus, Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings are still pending.
By contrast, Elia Kazan’s 1955 film version of East of Eden has an 86% “fresh” critics’ score on RT based on 43 reviews, while the audiences awarded it a Popcornmeter score of 90% “fresh” based on 10,000-plus verified user ratings.
RT’s Critics Consensus for the film reads, “East of Eden strains to swell its story to epic dimensions, but James Dean’s riveting performance gives this CinemaScope drama much of its raging heart.”
What Are Individual Critics Saying About Zoe Kazan’s ‘East Of Eden’?
Hunter Ingram of AV Club is among the top critics on RT who awards Zoe Kazan’s new miniseries a “fresh” score, writing, “With East Of Eden, Kazan has built a towering new standard for what literary adaptations for TV could and should be. It takes some losses to get there, but by the end of the series, these characters all find the breathing room in the world they wanted.”
Ben Travers also gives East of Eden a “fresh” score on RT, writing, “East of Eden tracks changes in a developing world with a shrewd disdain for systemic failures just as it traces change in its characters with the utmost compassion for human fallibility.”
In his “fresh” review summary on RT of East of Eden, The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg writes, “This, unlike the 1955 film, feels like it understands why East of Eden is a special text and, thanks to Pugh and Lee, offers plenty of special elements of its own.”
Variety’s Alison Herman also praises the acting in her “fresh” take of East of Eden on RT, writing, “The endeavor feels worth it for Pugh and Lee’s standout efforts, which etch their characters deep into one’s memory.”
Rebecca Nelson of the Financial Times also lauds the miniseries, writing in her “fresh” RT review summary, “Even the series’ most pitiless characters are given justifications for their villainous behaviour. That modern touch nudges East of Eden into yet another century—and this opulent and persuasive adaptation proves that it belongs here.”
While he has some minor reservations about the adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic, Keith Phillips of TV Guide writes in his “fresh” take of the miniseries on RT, “East of Eden never quite feels like a magnum opus on the same level as its source material, but it’s a fine, full adaptation that allows an excellent cast to wrestle with its themes against a landscape as big as the country that inspired it.”
John Anderson of the Wall Street Journal is among RT’s top critics who give East of Eden a “rotten” score, writing, “When a formative trauma is provided to a character who was supposed to be born bad, it simply feels like Ms. Kazan ran out of daring. If not cinematic vision.”
Newsday’s Verne Gay isn’t a fan of the new adaptation of East of Eden, either, calling the series in his short RT review summary “a grim, gloomy, sodden slog.”
All seven episodes of East of Eden are streaming on Netflix.
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