A glossy, melodramatic supernatural romance with enough franchise momentum, love-triangle tension, and campy sincerity to entertain the right audience. It’s uneven and often silly, but it also has a strong sense of teen emotional stakes, stylized action, and a surprisingly committed visual mood.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Adventure · Fantasy
Wed · 2h 4m
Director: David Slade
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Overview
Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger as Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob, knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella is confronted with the most important decision of her life.
Director
David Slade
Cast
Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, melodramatic supernatural romance with enough franchise momentum, love-triangle tension, and campy sincerity to entertain the right audience. It’s uneven and often silly, but it also has a strong sense of teen emotional stakes, stylized action, and a surprisingly committed visual mood.
Best for
fans of heightened YA romance and love triangles
viewers who enjoy earnest camp and franchise melodrama
audiences looking for supernatural fantasy with angst and rivalry
people who like glossy, moody teen blockbusters
Skip if
you want tight plotting or sharp dialogue
you dislike melodrama and romantic indecision
you need horror or fantasy rules to be especially coherent
you are allergic to franchise soap-opera energy
Overview
Eclipse is the Twilight installment that leans hardest into rivalry, desire, and emotional grandstanding. The plot is basically a pressure cooker: Bella’s choice between Edward and Jacob, a vampire threat in the background, and a constant sense that every conversation is a declaration of war or devotion. That gives the film a propulsive, absurdly sincere energy that can be either intoxicating or exhausting depending on your tolerance for teen melodrama.
Worth noting
What makes it work better than its reputation suggests is the confidence of the presentation. The movie has a colder, more controlled visual style than the earlier entries, and the action scenes are more muscular and coherent. It also understands that the franchise’s real appeal is not mythology but mood: longing, jealousy, repression, and the fantasy of being the center of an all-consuming emotional storm.
Bottom line
At the same time, it remains very much a soap opera with fangs. The dialogue is blunt, the triangle is repetitive, and the emotional logic is often ridiculous. But if you’re in the right frame of mind, that ridiculousness is part of the pleasure: Eclipse is a polished, high-stakes teen fantasy that knows exactly how to turn insecurity into spectacle.
Top Letterboxd reviews
becca (2★) · 15688 likes
when i saw this movie at the midnight premiere, there were team edward girls in the bathroom and they wouldnt let team jacob girls enter
Mir (2.5★) · 12275 likes
bella: i don’t wanna get married this young! edward: i’m not having sex till we’re married bella: ok let’s get married!!!!!
🦎 (4★) · 11918 likes
what’s up with the entire wolf pack wearing jorts
aaron (3★) · 8666 likes
I think we can all admire the fact bella was literally willing to die for that dick
Maj Augustin (5★) · 8147 likes
I need a prequel where I get to see Rosalie kill every single one of her abusers
Themes
love triangle, supernatural romance, teen angst, jealousy, identity and choice, vampire mythology, werewolf rivalry, coming-of-age
Topics
YA romance, supernatural drama, love triangle, teen melodrama, camp, moody visuals, franchise sequel, vampires, werewolves, angsty