Sydney Sweeney blasted for “atrocious” German accent in ‘Eden’ as social media erupts

Sydney Sweeney faces backlash for her ‘atrocious’ German accent in ‘Eden’ as fans mock her on social media

Sydney Sweeney has found herself at the centre of a fresh online storm after critics slammed her attempt at a German accent in Eden, Ron Howard’s new historical thriller now streaming on Prime Video.

In the film, Sweeney portrays Margret Wittmer, a real-life German settler who, along with her husband, moved to Floreana Island in the Galápagos during the 1930s. The story, based on Wittmer’s 1959 memoir Floreana: A Woman’s Pilgrimage to the Galápagos, follows a group of European idealists who seek paradise on a remote island but instead descend into jealousy, paranoia and violence.

Despite the film’s ambitious premise and star-studded cast, including Ana De Armas, Vanessa Kirby and Jude Law, the reaction to Sweeney’s performance has been far from flattering. Social media users have gone viral mocking her fluctuating accent, with one Reddit commenter calling it “so atrocious I couldn’t help but laugh.” Another wrote, “She drops the accent halfway through the film, then brings it back, it’s like a parody.”

Posts on social media echoed the same sentiment, with one viewer saying, “Sydney Sweeney was struggling with that accent, Jesus.” Others questioned why the film was made in English at all, given that most of the characters were meant to be German settlers. “Why on Earth would they speak English?” one critic asked, while another compared it to Lady Gaga’s infamous accent in House of Gucci, saying Hollywood should “stop making actors fake foreign accents when the characters would be speaking their native language.”

Ron Howard defended the film’s approach, telling Deadline that Eden was meant to be “a suspenseful look at human nature and survival.” Still, that hasn’t stopped the mockery, which has since spiralled across platforms. Clips of Sweeney’s performance have been reposted on TikTok with captions like “the accent that vanished halfway through the movie.”

This isn’t Sweeney’s first brush with online controversy. Only weeks earlier, she was called a “hypocrite” for criticising see-through dresses after wearing one herself. Now, her accent work has become the latest meme fodder, with Eden trending not for its mystery but for its questionable dialects.

As the backlash grows, fans remain divided, some defending her risk-taking, others insisting Hollywood should simply cast native speakers. Either way, Eden has become one of the most talked-about releases of the season, proving that even in paradise, chaos follows.