The Galapagos Islands will always be associated, first and foremost, with Darwin’s theory of natural selection and the unique creatures that inspired it. But certain chapters of the islands’ often-overlooked human history are nearly as fascinating.
The 2014 documentary The Galapagos Affair: When Satan Came to Eden explores one dark and fascinating chapter of the human habitation of ‘Darwin’s Enchanted Isles.’ Described as ‘Darwin meets Hitchcock,” the film chronicles a macabre murder mystery that unfolded on the island of Floreana in the 1930s. The action kicks off when a German doctor and his mistress arrive on the then-uninhabited island to start new lives together. The international press soon got ahold of the story of the Galapagos’ “Adam and Eve” and a stranger-than-fiction cast of characters soon followed, including an ersatz Swiss Family Robinson and a Viennese Baroness and her two boyfriends. Unsurprisingly, personalities clash and the free-love vibe of the settlement eventually leads to betrayal and murder.
The movie interweaves previously unearthed home movies, voiceover acting by some Hollywood heavyweights (including Cate Blanchett), interviews with modern day residents, and some stunning nature footage, to tell the bizarre story.
Check out the trailer below:
