If the films of Mia Hansen-Løve are haunted by the merciless march of time, they’re less preoccupied with its passage than they are with its ellipses. Whereas Richard Linklater plays the subject like an accordion, collapsing the years together and pulling them apart in order to transform the space between, Hansen-Løve bangs on it like a drum, her staccato stories finding beautiful music in the off-beats. Eden is the 33-year-old’s fourth feature, and while its male lead, historical interest, and occasional American setting might suggest that it’s a departure from her previous work, this riveting but resolutely uncool epic ultimately feels like less of a new direction than it does a new perspective. The beat may have changed, but the song remains the same.

FULL REVIEW ON LITTLE WHITE LIES: www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/features/articles/tiff-2014-eden-27810