Mike Faist as Charles Trask, Christopher Abbott as Adam Trask, and Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames in East of Eden Image via Netflix By Therese Lacson Published Oct 1, 2026, 3:01 AM EDT Therese Lacson is a Senior TV Editor who has been with Collider since 2021. She got started in this business over ten years ago working primarily as an interviewer and critic. At Collider, she works closely with the features team to support the writers and also ideates and develops content daily. She has covered major industry events including Cannes Film Festival , Sundance Film Festival , SXSW , Toronto International Film Festival , and San Diego Comic-Con . Although she reviews and covers both film and television, her focus is in television and her expertise is in fantasy and sci-fi genre shows. Her favorite shows to cover include House of the Dragon , Bridgerton , Fallout , 9-1-1 , and Rivals . Sign in to your Collider account Add Us Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Listen Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap John Steinbeck is often considered one of the greatest American writers, with East of Eden as his greatest masterpiece . Referencing the biblical Cain and Abel, Steinbeck tells the story of a multigenerational family haunted by a vicious cycle they can't seem to escape. Steinbeck's novel has been taught in classes and discussed at length for the last 70 years, but Zoe Kazan 's East of Eden , now streaming on Netflix, offers a daring new perspective on the familiar story , pushing boundaries and modernizing the 1950s novel for a new audience.
Sticking fairly close to the novel, Kazan's East of Eden follows two sets of brothers , starting at the end of the 19th century and ending in World War I . Cyrus Trask ( Tracy Letts ) has two sons: Adam ( Christopher Abbott ), from his first wife, and Charles ( Mike Faist ), from his second. Animosity blossoms between the two brothers at a young age when Cyrus, for no clear reason, heavily favors Adam over Charles. Cyrus pushes Adam into the cavalry so his son can become a decorated soldier like him, while Charles, the offspring better suited for the military, is left at home to be a farmer and stew in his bitterness.
When Adam returns from the service, Cyrus is dead, and he is now living with Charles in their childhood home. One night, a woman turns up on their porch, beaten and bleeding to death. This is Cathy Ames ( Florence Pugh ). While Steinbeck is hardly subtle with his biblical references, Cathy is easily one of his most overtly evil characters, existing as the embodiment of Lucifer and original sin. The author calls her a monster, while the characters themselves compare her to a demon or wild animal. Charles cautions Adam against pursuing Cathy, seeing a darkness in her that reflects his own, but Adam disregards his brother's warnings . To Adam, Cathy seems to be the survivor of a vicious attack, and while helping her heal, he falls in love with her and marries her.
Cathy and Adam then move to California , and she gives birth to twin sons: Aron ( Joe Anders ) and Cal ( Joseph Zada ). When Cathy abandons Adam and their sons shortly after their birth, Adam is left on his own (kind of) to raise his kids. As a father, he inherits his own father's bad behavior and chooses Aron as his favorite, making it obvious to his sons which one he…