User reviews

It's a meticulously crafted powder keg, and Aster lights the fuse with the precision of someone who knows exactly how long the fuse burns. The man doesn't make movies-he engineers experiences. This one? A contemporary western that hums with unease, like a desert wind carrying whispers of something off.

Aster's got a reputation for unsettling audiences, but here he trades pagan rituals and family trauma for the sun-bleached nihilism of New Mexico. The tension isn't in the jump scares-it's in the silence between glances, the way a sheriff's badge catches the light just a little too sharply. His camera lingers like a vulture circling, and the editing? Tight. No wasted movement. You'll feel every minute of its 148 runtime, but not because it drags. Because it grinds.

Joaquin Phoenix as the sheriff? He's all coiled ambition and swallowed rage, a man who's mastered the art of smiling without it touching his eyes. Emma Stone? She's in her element here, shifting from warmth to withering skepticism like a switchblade flicking open. And Pedro Pascal-quiet, calculating, a performance that says more in a raised eyebrow than most do in monologues.

If you're expecting another Midsommar, adjust your sights. This is a different breed-a dark comedy dressed in cowboy boots, where the jokes land like gut punches. The humor's bone-dry, the violence matter-of-fact, and the existential dread? Oh, it's there. Lurking in the background like a bad habit you can't quit.

Is it perfect? No. The third act's ambition occasionally outpaces its grip, and not every metaphor sticks the landing. But perfection's overrated. Eddington's a ride-a nasty, hypnotic, memorable ride. Aster's not asking you to like it. He's daring you to look away.

My advice? Don't.

Its thesis is clear. We're all hypocrites. How the old generation has a stick up their ***, too rigid to embrace meaningful change, while the younger generation-damned from birth by social screens, performs outrage on Instagram in hopes of sleeping with Sarah.

Ari Aster skewers each political perspective, which in turn makes up a large majority of unhappy letterboxd reviewers, ironically complementing the film's punchline. No matter where you stand, it's naive to believe stupidity is exclusive to one side.

All in all, it's a film less concerned with who's right and more obsessed with how dumb it all looks from a distance.

I can only tell this is gonna be a very polarising film, people are going to love the ambition from Aster or call it a convoluted mess.

Depending on your views during the 2020s will severely determined your outlook on this film. Are you able to laugh at the insanity or remain serious at the severity of events that transpired.

Eddington is ultimately a satire on the comedic ridiculousness and tumultuous times of the 2020's. Eddington in itself is the main character. It's a macrocosom of events that impacted the US but obviously ramps them up to 11.

I appreciate the craft and the film was at its best when it was reminiscent of the Coen's No Country For Old Men. The 2nd act elevated the implemented satire to a contemporary western crime thriller.

The film is hit or miss in its summary. I understand the message and themes but at some points the execution is lacking. I feel like it tried to juggle a lot of themes and messages. Maybe sticking to one or two would have made the film more tight and succinct.

In 2019, Ari Aster struck many film fans as the new face of horror and quickly attached him to the genre. In 2025, Ari Aster has departed from that stereotype and is now seen (at least in my opinion) as a director who makes very polarizing and ambitious films that he wants to make. I gotta respect the guy for going out and doing that. Eddington, much like his 2023 film "Beau is Afraid" is that kind of film. It's ridiculously ambitious, busy, and absolutely bonkers. It's something that I feel only Aster could make. I'll agree with the critics when they say Aster covers a lot of subjects but doesn't really commit to most of them. He seems to kind of get lost in the moment of trying to satirize and summarize too many subjects of the COVID pandemic to the point of exhaustion. It's not his most successful film and it's certainly not going to please everyone, but I greatly admire the drive he put into it.

This movie reminds me of a real story of self awareness in light of the worlds ills. In the early 1900s, a newspaper reportedly asked a group of notable writers and thinkers to respond to the question, "What is wrong with the world today?" To which the famous theologian and thinker G. K. Chesterton is said to have replied with a characteristically witty and humble response "Dear Sirs, I am. Yours sincerely, G. K. Chesterton."

Ari Aster has made another horror film. This one is disguised as a modern day Western, Dark Comedy, but this is deep diving stuff that inserts us into a small New Mexico town in 2020 that is at the beginning stages of the COVID pandemic. Joaquin Phoenix is the tour guide - and the ride - who shows us something of what is wrong with the world.

Eddington took me back to feelings of despair that play on in our world. This is a most excellent tragic tale and definitely not a comedy, although the audience will probably laugh in the discomfort of seeing the true reflection of ourselves somewhere in this mirror of blame, conspiracy, narcissism, and social rage.

Somehow Aster keeps this from being preachy while giving us a scare at our own reflections. What wrong with Eddington? It's us.

Describing Eddington as a neo-western might be the most fitting way to summarise Ari Aster's 2025 dark comedy-drama-though even that hardly scratches the surface.

That said, I felt I needed a full ten minutes of silence after the credits rolled, just to process what I'd witnessed.

It's an Ari Aster film, after all, so if you're familiar with his work, you'll know to expect a whirlwind of emotional and thematic disarray. But Eddington isn't just messy-it's exquisite, unfiltered chaos.

If you've seen the trailer, don't be misled. It barely teases the disorienting spiral that unfolds. The story kicks off in May 2020, amidst the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What begins as a snapshot of public hysteria-conspiracy theories, anti-vaxxers, and the fear-soaked atmosphere-rapidly morphs into something darker and more disturbingly real.

We've spent the past five years collectively unmoored-adrift in chaos, where appearances deceive and identities dissolve. It sometimes feels like a failed social mutation-one born from freedom pushed to its breaking point-an evolutionary misstep we fought to achieve, only to have it turn against us.

Let's be clear: freedom is a vital human right. But when it becomes indistinguishable from anarchic self-destruction, something has clearly gone awry.

At its core, Eddington follows a standoff between small-town sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) and Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), set in the fictional town of Eddington, New Mexico.

Their clash is both personal and political-complicated by Garcia's fraught history with Cross's wife, Louise (Emma Stone), and mother-in-law, Dawn (Deirdre O'Connell).

Aster revisits his obsession with overbearing maternal figures, folding that tension seamlessly into the wider conflict as the two men find themselves on opposing sides of the mask debate.

The film is deliberately provocative, often hollow by design, and it's a difficult piece to review. You'll laugh, you'll wince, you'll question what you're watching-and you certainly won't find it comforting.

Aster touches on themes like racial division, though arguably without much new to say. The Black Lives Matter movement is clearly present in the film's DNA, but its representation feels muddled-more gestured at than fully explored.

Before it can fully engage with those ideas, the film veers off into another subplot filled with irrationality, violence, and distraction-perhaps intentionally mirroring how public attention shifted in real time.

What he does capture is the paranoia, anxiety, and social fragmentation that exploded when lockdowns began and the world collectively panicked. He blends it into a fever dream of confusion and satire, offering no answers-just raw sensation.

Much of the chaos is filtered through the lens of social media, which becomes the film's true stage. It's where the news is curated, where lies take root, and where misinformation thrives.

To emphasize this aspect, the film extensively employs the screenlife technique, blending traditional storytelling with found-footage and mockumentary styles. And let me tell you, it works remarkably well, enhancing the overall sense of realism.

Paranoia spreads like wildfire, jokes mutate into threats, and morality dissolves into a game of psychological warfare, disinformation, and mass manipulation.

Unsurprisingly, Eddington has sharply divided critics-and will likely do the same with audiences. Expect fiery debates. Some will praise its fearless ambition; others will dismiss it as bloated, incoherent, or pretentious. And honestly, that may be exactly what Aster intended.

As always, his visual storytelling is exceptional. Darius Khondji's cinematography (Uncut Gems, The Immigrant) balances the film's absurdity and dread with a sharp, immersive eye. Lucian Johnston's editing keeps the pacing surprisingly taut, especially for a film that thrives on disorientation.

Aster's visual language for violence remains as potent as ever. When revenge time comes, it hits with darkly funny moments-especially during 'The Antifa Massacre,' which delivers shocking laughs and gory satisfaction in true Ari Aster fashion.

But after all that-did I like it?

There's brilliance in Eddington-but perhaps brilliance trapped in a maze of its own ambition, leaving something essential just out of reach.

The ride remains undeniably compelling. Ari Aster remains one of the most fascinating directors working today.

But, as with Beau Is Afraid, he tests the limits of narrative and patience. There's brilliance in Eddington, but there's also a sense of something missing-maybe too much of everything, all at once.

This isn't a comfort film to watch. It won't leave you with a clear head. In fact, you'll probably leave the cinema clutching your skull, trying to piece together the fragments.

My advice? Watch it with a good friend-or a few-who appreciate psychologically demanding cinema.

Because once the screen fades to black, the real film begins-in your head, and in the conversations that follow.

So, what does dark comedy mean, exactly ... ?

"Eddington," which falls under that genre on the Internet Movie Database, isn't the first movie that's left me asking the question. It's just the most recent.

The film is also labeled a Contemporary Western, a concept easier to grasp.

Eddington is the name of a tiny, out-of-the-way New Mexico town, grappling - as the rest of the country was when the story opens in 2020 - with the outbreak of the Covid pandemic.

You can't get much more contemporary than that.

Written and directed by Ari Aster, who has developed a cult following for leading audiences into scary sometimes gross places, its cast is heavy with Oscar winners and nominees. Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Pablo Pascal, Dierdre O'Connell, Michael Ward and Austen Butler, for openers.

Phoenix plays Eddington's Sheriff Joe Cross, a sad-sack lawman who's got about as much as he can handle with his wife Louise (Stone) who doesn't love him ; her mother Dawn (O'Connell) whose favorite pastime is Googling conspiracy theories; and that Covid mask mandate that he's supposed to be enforcing.

Joe's got asthma, you see, which makes it hard for him to breathe whenever he tries to put the danged mask on.

Joe's not a political person, per se. The circumstances that lead him to run against incumbent Ted Garcia (Pascal) to become Eddington's mayor are more a matter of being pushed past his breaking point by one too many matters beyond his control.

There's the new AI data center that's been proposed for development that has local conservationists up in arms. There's the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis that's all over the news and has the town's teenage population rioting on Main Street. There's the loco crazy homeless guy, who always shows up to make matters worse. There are the rumors that the current mayor slept with Sheriff Joe's wife, before unceremoniously dumping her ... Aha, so maybe dark comedy is about trying to find the yuks in what Henry David Thoreau called "lives of quiet desperation." That was the way Thoreau described "the mass of men" in his 1854 masterpiece "Walden." No one has summed things up better in the almost two centuries since.

Or maybe dark comedy is more a matter of dystopian satire, trying to whistle our way past the graveyard of civilization.

Whatever it's called, writer-director Aster clearly has a lot on his mind before he lets the action onscreen devolve into a hail of unholy gunfire, explosions and chaos in the third act.

Considering that they're both running for mayor, it's noteworthy what horrible communicators Sheriff Joe and incumbent Ted Garcia are. Joe has a habit of speaking his mind before his mind's made up. Ted is way better in TV commercials than in actuality. Both guys reveal the absence of anything like actual confidence every time they open their mouths.

The real powers in their world are behind the scenes, creating that water-sucking, resource-depleting high-tech data center, or infiltrating high-minded political demonstrations with false flag mercenaries Like an old-fashioned - as opposed to contemporary - Western, "Eddington's" setting is as much a character as the characters are. The saloon, church and wooden sidewalks may now be replaced with convenience marts, an historic Indian museum and a very convenient gun and ammo store, but there's still the sense of flimsy storefronts standing lonesome vigils a long way from the hills on the horizon on those windswept plains.

Likewise, Sheriff Joe's iPhone isn't in the credits, but it play a role as important as any character in the story. "Eddington" may be the first work of art made of misinformation. Social media is where that misinformation comes to life, festers and spreads like fungus. There's nothing like smart technology for making people stupid. Once you create artificial intelligence, actual intelligence is a flimsy defense indeed.

When it comes to polarized idiocy, filmmaker Aster doesn't take sides. The self-styled high-minded liberals are as gullible to online fictions as your standard garden-variety bigot. Some of the film's funniest scenes come when the teen demonstrators protesting the George Floyd killings tie themselves in moral knots trying to deny their own class and privilege. Aster's script suggests that actual pedophiles may far outnumber figments of conspiracy theory imagination - and may not be limited to one political party or another.

"Eddington" may be a work of genius. That's a saving grace, considering that none of its characters are particularly likable, it's disquieting to sit through, and its so-called humor hardly lightens the mood as you exit the theater into the actual dystopia waiting outside.

Joaquin Phoenix is really one of our best actors. I am a fan of his work from films like "Inherent Vice", "Two Lovers", "Buffalo Soldiers", "Her", "Napoleon", "Irrational Man", "Gladiator", "Walk the Line", and "The Master". And of course he won the Oscar for best actor for "Joker".

Now he stars in a new movie called "Eddington" directed by Ari Aster. I know that Ari Aster previously directed the films "Hereditary", "Midsommer", and "Beau is Afraid". But I have not seen any of those.

The story takes place in the fictional town of Eddington, New Mexico during May of 2020, the time of the coronavirus pandemic. It starts with people arguing about whether or not they should have to wear face masks to protect them from the virus.

Joaquin plays the local sheriff who clashes with the mayor, played by Pedro Pascal in a supporting role. Then Joaquin's character decides to run for mayor himself.

The story escalates into some violence but is never less than compelling and entertaining. This is one of the better movies I have seen this year. Also with an excellent supporting cast including Emma Stone and Austin Butler.

Also with good cinematography from Darius Khondji, who was nominated for "Bardo false chronicle of a handful of truths" and "Evita".

This film is very much worth seeing in a movie theater. A very good movie.

Finally, a film addresses the giant elephant in the room that in the last five years has sent the country spiralling even further into political and identity tribalism, the ascendance of authoritarianism, etc., which the media likes to pretend it never stoked (as if Jan. 6th was all based on one discontented president's rhetoric and not also on thousands of jobs lost due to shutdowns): the Covid-19 Pandemic. The ever busy Pedro Pascal and always adventurous Joaquin Phoenix are great as Mayor and Sheriff at political odds in the tiny town of Eddington, New Mexico (really Truth or Consequences) with mask restrictions that drove many a citizen crazy in 2020-1 (the plot only seems a bit of an overreach by conflating AI into the mix, an issue that really didn't enter the national conversation until late 2022 at the earliest). Emma Stone is very funny as Joaquin's doll-obsessed, frigid wife, and the film has a charming, homespun quality that recalls other New Mexico-set films like "Welcome To Mooseport" and "White Sands" (I tried to be an extra when it filmed a year ago this past April but missed the window, finding only "Welcome Eddington!" marquees at various drive-ins). With NM's usually vibrant film scene slowed to a snail's pace due to tariffs and such (Superman was essentially fighting a fitter, younger Don), it's great we still have challenging, well-written films like this emerging in 2025 among all the usual play-it-safe remakes and reboots. Check out Eddington; at least it'll give you something to talk about.

Eddington (2025) - Ari Aster

Wow! Where do I even begin?

When scrolling on Instagram a while ago, I saw a short reel of Ari Aster talking after this film premiered at the Cannes film festival. Once the applause died now, I believe his first words were "sorry, I guess?" I do not know the quote verbatim, but he jokingly apologized for the film. It is easy to see the need for an apology just an hour into the film. Eddington is riddled with politics, controversy, violence, and surprisingly, some of the best dark humor I have ever seen in cinema. We finally have a fictional movie that truly addresses tensions in America during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is one hell of a movie.

Meet Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), the sheriff of Eddington. He may not want to wear a mask everywhere he goes (and claims it is due to asthma), but that does not make him a bad person. Not yet, at least.

And meet the current mayor of Eddington, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). He reminds Joe that there is a mandate in place to wear a mask in public, but at least he is polite about it while reminding Joe that it is just a safety precaution.

The first hour of the movie pokes fun at such behavior from both sides of the issue, which is a very bold thing to do only five years after the timeline in which this story takes place. But this is just a precursor to how tensions will quickly escalate from more serious issues, both political and personal, once the first act ends with Cross announcing his run for mayor of Eddington.

Now, while I would likely not agree with Cross' behavior towards COVID if I was back in 2020 when the movie takes place, Cross has noble, and understandable, qualities such as wanting to treat everybody more like human beings than like toddlers during uncertain times. Is he a conservative since he dismisses COVID? Well... who cares? It does not matter what side of the political spectrum he falls on, but the important thing is while some see him as selfish, to others he is a kind and caring human being.

At first.

One thing that the movie does very well is that while it brings up political divide and tensions which were happening in 2020, it attempts to remain unbiased, showing both the good stuff and the bad stuff coming from each "side." There is a lot of first amendment auditing in the movie, but before videos get posted to Instagram, it is shown in the movie that a lot of what actually makes it to the social media platform is taken completely out of context. Even minor subplots are filled with notions that certain biases definitely exist through manipulation of technology and the use of social media.

This review may not feel complete, but I think I have to stop myself here before I begin to spoil anything about the second half of the movie. But I will leave you all with this... I think Phoenix's performance is incredible in this film because there is a "point of no return" moment in which I decided that Joe Cross becomes one of the worst fictional human beings I have ever seen portrayed on film.

I am not going to say this movie will not offend you, because there is a great chance that it will, but I think this film needs to be seen. It is controversial and hilarious, and I also think it challenges me to think about the world and try to remain less biased and more understanding of opposing points of view.

10/10.

Rating: 7.5/10 Watched on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 (first watch) Format: regular theatre

I enjoyed how the story unfolds towards the end and specifically the last hour. It gave it a meaning which what I was worried about halfway through the film as I felt like the story and characters weren't progressing.

The sound mixing/editing is the most powerful element in the film in my opinion. It was loud in moments where it needed to be loud which enhances the viewer's experience into what's being shown on screen and vice versa.

Joaquin phoenix does an awesome acting role as usual. Can't say the same for Emma Stone's due to her character's (Louise Cross) weak storyline that deserved more attention. Same goes for Austin Butler's Vernon.

Cinematography has its moments but not the best compared to the directors other projects. Same with the directing, not Ari's best work but you can tell there is a lot of foreshadowings and easter eggs that would give the directing more meaning to be appreciated. I got to add by saying that the comedy aspect wasn't forced, when it suppose to make you laugh, you will indeed laugh out loud. A funny and engaging film that leaves room for a slow boredom towards the middle.

Eddington starts very slow, and you think yo yourself, whats the point. It's slow for so long (about 60% of the movie), that I was considering to walk home - but I stayed.

Then a sudden unexpected twist happened, and it actually suddenly got interesting. I was hoping the twist would be the main storyline, but quickly after it turns into a train wreck of a movie, a real mess with characters not getting explained, and no real point of the story. Just pointless violence that is not explained. After the movie my girlfriend and I looked at eachother at have never felt more "WTF did I just watch" (not in a positive way) after seeing a movie.

Great acting. Great cinematography. But story is pointless. I wouldn't recommend it watching it in the movies, simply a too great investment for such a poor story.

Eddington feels like being locked in a room with your own thoughts...while those thoughts are armed and slightly unhinged. The pacing is tight, the plot twists keep you leaning forward, and just when your anxiety peaks, it throws in a gut-punch of humor that somehow makes it all feel human again.

It's a rare film that can make you laugh and feel like you need to sit quietly in a dark room afterward just to process what you watched. This is that film. Smart, offbeat, unsettling, and genuinely entertaining. Eddington doesn't just keep you intrigued, it lingers long after the credits roll.

Director Ari Astor enjoys making movies that people talk about, sometimes years after their theatrical release. His movies are also depressing, pessimistic, thought-provoking, and wild. So far, he has made HEREDITARY, MIDSOMMAR, and BEAU IS AFRAID. His fourth movie under the A24 banner is called EDDINGTON, his most thought-provoking and divisive movie yet. This dark comedy tells the story of a fictional town called Eddington, New Mexico during the pandemic, the summer of 2020. Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) has asthma and is in an uncomfortable marriage with Louise (Emma Stone), who makes strange sculptures. They also live with her mother Dawn (Deirdre O'Connell), who is glued to social media. Joe finds contention in being forced to wear a mask, which leads to him running for mayor, against current mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). This movie says a LOT, but after everything that happens, I failed to see the point of it. I understand that Astor very obviously wants the audience to feel the same feelings that were already felt by everybody back then, but why would we want to feel anxious, possibly hypocritical, and extremely divisive again? I don't think the message of this movie needed to be told so blatantly, especially at almost 150 minutes. EDDINGTON is about so many things: COVID, Black Lives Matter, social media, A. I, religious cults, and conspiracy theories. Quite a few of these things feel tacked on, not contributing to the main plot at all. This movie makes fun of the crazies on the right and the left side of the political spectrum. The first half is a little tedious, but it's a slow burn that really escalates. It has flawed characters and a messy script. The first half is a little tedious, but it builds up to something at least interesting. The cast does a phenomenal job with what they've been given, even though some of them needed more to do. I like movies that make you feel something, whether that's good or bad or mad. A24 might need to pull the reigns a little bit on Aster, but I can't deny his intriguing talent. He's able to capture the atmosphere and overwhelming uncertainty of 2020. I don't want to think about "the COVID era", much less watch a movie about it, but if anybody can take a crazy time and somehow amp up the crazy, it would be Ari. EDDINGTON is a divisive movie about a divisive society in a divisive time, and I know people are going to talk about this one, divisively.

I really enjoyed this movie. It's also the first one I've gone to the theater to see in a while. I stopped going to see things at the theater because everything is a remake or a 20 year late sequel and I'm sick of it!

This was so interesting and i was entertained the whole time. That acting is great, the writing and storyline intriguing. You can tell the director ACTUALLY CARED about the end result and was in it to make a good movie and not just a paycheck. A little on the nose at times but thats what its all about. Go see this if you are also disenchanted with what comes out of Hollywood lately, it's a huge sigh of relief while also holding your breath for the entire film.

I've attended literally decades of press screenings for films and this is the first time that the members of the press were ever told to let the movie simmer before submitting a comment. That really sums up Eddington, the new film from Ari Asher. It takes a long time to digest. A stew that has different elements bubble up to the top, every time it's stirred.

Billed as a 'western' by some, but, to me, the only thing that makes it resemble one is that there's a small-town sheriff and it takes place in New Mexico. Other than that, it's positively David Lynchian. It's got everything but the dwarf. Sex, violence, scandal, incest, insanity, murder, secrets, etc. Etc.

In a nutshell, and, with a runtime of 148 minutes, it's a HUGE nut, Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), the small-town sheriff, decides to run for Mayor of Eddington, NM. His opponent is the current Mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). They're opponents politically, ethically and morally. They have a shared past, but you know I won't spill those beans.

The action takes place a few months following the COVID-19 country-wide lockdown. Now, Eddington itself is a town in its death throes. Mayor Garcia appears to be a good guy. He's trying to care for a town that is filled with good ol' boys, some future-less teens and a whole bunch of crazies. He's trying to keep the town healthy by vigorously encouraging mask use to 'slow the spread'. Joe Cross, on the other hand, is a Sheriff who doesn't want his rights 'infringed'. He'll double-dog-dare anyone who wants to force him, or his deputies, to mask up. That includes any and every public facility, office and private residence. He insists that "no one has Covid in our town", while it's apparent that simply is a lie, one that may prove fatal. Meanwhile, most of the town openly supports the Government's health mandate.

Cross is married to Louise (Emma Stone), who suffers from a great deal of anxiety. Louise doesn't want her husband to touch her, is uninterested in having a family with Joe. Her mother, Dawn (Deirdre O'Connell), recently came to visit and now can't leave because of the lockdown. Dawn is completely enmeshed in every single cult and conspiracy theory out there, insisting on infusing that sickness into the home. Louise's dad was the former town Sheriff, and his candlelit, oversize professional photograph resides in a place of honor; an altar smack dab in the middle of their living room. Occasionally, the family addresses comments to the altar.

And, since it's 2020, the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is stirred into the pot. His death sparks a nationwide protest and though Eddington, NM is primarily white, with just a single black officer and a handful of Hispanics, including the Mayor, the town takes up the 'no justice, no peace' protest. It starts as a flicker, then the heat is turned up, becoming literally a raging inferno.

In writing Eddington, Aster weaves in multiple snippets of the reality of that lost year. The growth of health conspiracy nuts who promote the use of hydroxychloroquine. The boom of the use of AI in social media. The growth of cults who take advantage of the enforced isolation of the populace, such as the one lead by Vernon (Austin Butler).

In the background of the action is a corporation, a data center, being constructed adjacent to the small town. Some see it as a boon, the thing that will save the town from eradication. Others see it as a threat. Onscreen, Aster flashes a website, SolidGoldMagiKarp, which is supposed to disseminate information on the project. The word itself is a GPT token, a word that makes no sense in and of itself. My research showed that the word itself 'leads to erratic behavior in any of the modeling systems' that use it. I wanted to source it to give you a better understanding, but it's way beyond my ken, sorry. All I can grasp is that it's some sort of glitch, causing a break in GPT's reality.

Could it, and the data center, also be the source for the mayhem that erupts in Eddington? Only Aster knows.

Childless Louise has spent her life making the weirdest artwork. Paintings and hand-held figures of big-headed, lumpy misshapen humans. Some have long, projectile-like noses. These images have taken over the Cross home, inhabiting every crawlspace and wall. They're even on the Sheriff's office desk.

Social media plays a huge role in what happens in the town of Eddington. The Sheriff announces his intention to run for Mayor in a social media rant, without informing his wife, decorating his official vehicle with signage that says things like "your (sic) being manipulated" and "don't turn Eddington NM into Facebook NM". Sheriff Cross is seen frequently with his cellphone in his hand, obsessing over videos of his wedding as well as the number of hits his posts receive. Later in the film he makes another rant on social media, leading to even more serious consequences for the entire town.

So many people here in need of serious psychotherapy. And that beat goes on.

Eddington is spicy and dark. See it with a friend, to mull over the plots and subplots. Major kudos to Phoenix, who manages to hold on to the strings of a plot gone almost wild: give corruptible people a taste of power and their addiction to power becomes insatiable.

Greetings again from the darkness. It's frightening to see how societal norms and individual behavior have shifted over the past five years. It seems clear that the COVID Pandemic was a turning point ... or at a minimum, an accelerant. Writer-director Ari Aster (MIDSOMMER, 2019; HEREDITARY, 2018) uses this as a theme in this Neo-noir Western that takes place in a small fictional town in 2020 New Mexico as the pandemic was kicking into gear.

You should know upfront that Aster serves up a giant pot of cinematic vegetable soup. Topics touched on include: politics, racism, pedophilia, Antifa, gun rights, Black Lives Matter, White guilt, envy, divisiveness, murder, conspiracy theories, George Floyd, David Hogg, face masks, social distancing mandates, cults, ambition, abortion, and Native American land rights. If that's not enough for you, the film also includes an abundance of dark comedy and the final act features a barrage of violence. Just writing that is exhausting, yet nowhere near as exhausting as watching this film.

Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix (JOKER, 2019) stars as Sheriff Joe Cross, an odd man in a white hat who dares challenge his rival, the sitting town Mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) for the office in the upcoming election. Cross is the one who eschews wearing a mask, while Garcia is the smooth-talking type who encourages commitment to the mandates. The differences between the men are obvious when we see Garcia's heart-warming (pandering) TV ad as contrasted to Cross' campaign car sign with "You're" spelled "Your". The two men don't like each other, a situation exacerbated by rumors of a long-ago incident between Garcia and Cross' wife, Louise (two-time Oscar winner Emma Stone).

Being ill-equipped to run an election, even with the assistance of his two deputies, Michael (Michael Ward, EMPIRE OF LIGHT, 2022) and Guy (Luke Grimes, "Yellowstone"), isn't the extent of Cross' problems. His marriage to Louise is rocky at best, and having her mother, Dawn (Deidre O'Connell, a talented actor in TV and movies since the 1980's) live with them and spew her conspiracy theories only adds to the bumpy ride. Things get worse for Joe when Louise grows close to charismatic but vacuous cult leader Vernon (Austin Butler) ... a guru who manages to calmly say things that rile folks up in a hollow-cause kind of way.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji works his magic with a film that bounces all over the place thematically. In traditional Westerns, it was always good versus evil; however, this contemporary version is more political and seems to lack any people who are actually good. Joaquin Phoenix goes all in for his role, and Pedro Pascal continues to prove he can play just about any character. Emma Stone and Austin Butler take on minor roles, while Deidre O'Connell gets to shine in a couple of scenes. Don't believe for a second that filmmaker Aster is attempting to explain how we've reached this moment. It's more a snapshot in time of how people react under extreme pressure and how everyone has a snapping point. Is the film provocative or is Aster just having fun stirring the pot? Talk amongst yourselves (after watching).

Opens in theaters on July 18, 2025.

I will keep this review 100% spoiler free. First off, I think this film was brilliant. It was subversive. It was shocking. It was full of tension and paranoia. It brought back all of the unpleasantness of 2020, but for a worthwhile purpose. The themes at the heart of this film are expertly conveyed and very thought provoking. Everyone in the theater we saw it in sat in a stunned silence at the end. My only critique is that a small amount of fat at the end could have been trimmed in my opinion, but I barely gave this a thought. Definitely my movie of the year so far.

Try as I might, I cannot shake how bewildered I am from having watched Eddington: Ari Aster's 4th feature film. I have been a huge fan since I watched Hereditary for the first time (ironically enough, during the pandemic). Aster has shown that he is more capable and gifted than many horror filmmakers twice his age. The concept of trauma has been what fuels his elevated horror, and in Eddington, he examines the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many would say that this is a period piece 5 years too early, but I would say COVID defines this decade in the same way that 9/11 defined the 2000's, and by 2005, we were seeing biopics emerge. But is this period something that Aster is built to tackle? Moreover, does he have something compelling to say about the socio-political minefield that the pandemic created? I'll say this, he almost does. But it's buried deep inside a confused and messy political satire that doesn't have the slightest clue as to what it wants to say.

Eddington, at its best moments, exposes the callous, selfish and greedy actions of politicians and influencers as they prey upon the tensions and fears people had during this time to benefit their own aspirations. Sheriff Joe Cross (played by Joaquin Phoenix) exploits the anger at lockdowns from the gun-toting, conservative population of Eddington to run for mayor. Mayor Ted Garcia (played by Pedro Pascal) exploits the anguished calls for racial justice to fuel his corporate-centric re-election campaign, all the while skirting quarantine lockdown rules, while enforcing them on everyone else. Vernon Peake, the Russel Brand-esque conspiracy theorist (played by Austin Butler) preys upon vulnerable young women (especially Joe Cross's long-suffering wife, Louise) to grow and form a doomsday cult with himself as leader. We even see a teenage boy, Brian, who urgently joins the local chapter of BLM in order to impress a girl he really likes. Nobody in Eddington, save for a few, has sincere intentions as they enter the political arena. As they say: never let a crisis go to waste. It's all about attaining power by any means. The problems we face in our country never change so long as people in power only act on their own self-interests. This, I think, is the message Aster really should have focused on. Instead, it is mired by sequence after sequence of Covid-era confrontations, portraying exactly how they occurred, without a shred of the humor, absurdity and self-awareness needed to make the satire work. If you want to relive seeing people crash out over wearing a mask or chaotic scenes of wild protesting, there are millions of videos on YouTube and TikTok to watch. Ari Aster has nothing new to say about any of this. What's the point? That America was coming apart at the seams? We know, Ari. We all lived it. He also doesn't take a side on any issue here, but it feels less like radical centrism and more like Aster approaching hot-button issues in the most cowardly way. If you can't effectively make a political movie, don't make one. I hope Ari Aster takes that to heart, because he's squandering so much of his incredible talent as a filmmaker.

Luckily, we see that talent here, big time. Ari Aster still knows how to build suspense and tension in a scene that calls for it. I audibly gasped about half a dozen times here. There are some truly unforgettable sequences here that left my jaw hanging. When Eddington morphs into a violent thriller by the film's halfway mark, this film absolutely comes alive in ways that so many movies these days don't. I wish I could tell you how beautifully shot and crafted these sequences are, but I really just want you to experience them for yourselves, because there is nothing like the experience of seeing them for the first time.

There is enough here for audiences to endure the sloppier aspects of Eddington. I recommend watching with caution and tempered expectations. You may have a better time if you do.

This time around, he has chosen a different genre to terrify us with, a contemporary western. Eddington is an unsuspecting thrill ride with plenty of laughs, classic western callbacks, fresh new characters, and gut punching scenes.

The action is ramped up compared to Aster's previous films. It's a step out to show the violent, defensive side of America bubbling up through our cast of characters. In typical Aster fashion, though, the brute force is reserved for about the second half of the movie exclusively. It's very hard to call this an action movie in that case, but Aster's films are impossible to define by their genre any way.

The laughs and comedic moments are better than ever in Eddington. All the visual gags and reoccurring jokes aid the uncanny feeling of reality. Many real Americans talk and act the way characters do in Eddington. The most effective way to cope is to observe and laugh. It never feels like Aster is trying to push a political agenda with the comedy in Eddington. It comes from a place of trying to highlight the ridiculous absurdity that is America in 2020.

The western callbacks and references are backed in the films DNA. None of the western moments feel like after thoughts. The stand offs, walking in places the character shouldn't, and bad guys rolling in on the horizon all feel whole-heartedly Eddington. These western callbacks aren't just tacked on to call it a western. The references are deliberately placed and feel well planned to suit the story.

Overall, I will be seeing Eddington in theaters again. The theater I saw it in on Thursday, opening night, had maybe 10 people in it. Everybody laughed, squirmed, and moaned, but it wasn't enough for a single viewing. I'm willing to bet I'll pick up on even more details next time around. Side note: There are many small, written, sometimes hidden details in many frames. You should watch it in a theater.

Whew, Eddington is something. Personally, I found reliving the pandemic to be quite painful. The first half of the film is so full of propaganda (all sides) and cliche characters, it was painful. Seeing people crash out because of a mask was annoying. The second half descended into madness, without explanation, and was more more enjoyable.

Positives!

+Movie looked really good. Great shot compositions.

+Good commentary on social media usage and reliance.

+Action of ending was fun, though random.

Negatives!

-Reliving covid, ugh.

-Felt more one-sided than it should have been for a satire.

-BLM protestors were the most negatively framed characters, even worse than the murderers.

-Characters just disappear from the story.

-Ending explains nothing about a certain militia group.

-No Mention of the sitting President of the time, but his policies and conspiracies are on full display.

Do I sound bitter? Hah, I assure you I'm not. Just disappointed because this could have been the satire of the decade if it was more balanced. Top billed cast are hardly in the film too. Too much is left on the table and the imagination of the audience, despite presenting intelligent ideas. Ari Aster needs some assistance with these scripts. Eddington was enjoyable, but falls way short of its potential.

6.5/10!

-GremlinLord615, full review on YouTube.

The year 2020 is in hindsight, it's like we all remember it with "COVID-19", the killing of George Floyd, racial protest, political differences, and the backlash of social media. With this film "Eddington" writer and director Ari Aster captures and has all of us reliving those 2020 moments, in this long in depth and complex western drama. Set in Eddington, New Mexico a yes man and political veteran town mayor Ted Garcia(Pedro Pascal) wants to enforce the mask and mandate restrictions on the town, however the go against the grain local sheriff Joe Cross(the super great Joaquin Phoenix) challenges him and stands up against him and the establishment and starts a maverick campaign against him. Thru it all drama, and protest is felt in the form of George Floyd, and Donald Trump with racial and political protest. The film is a roller coaster and heart pounding edge of your seat journey with emotions as the standoff between Cross and Garcia feels like one of legendary rivals that both will bend and break the rules to get ahead and fight for what they believe in. The supporting cast helps the film along too with Emma Stone as Louise the scorned angry wife of Joe and Austin Butler and Deirdre O' Connell both give good turns as odd and wild yet likable wild card like characters. The action, blood, and gunfire is a treat to watch as that made the western theme feel more real. Overall excellent film one of the better one's I've watched in sometime as it feels real and contemporary as viewers could relate to the story as the movie showcased real happenings of the pandemic year supported by social media. And the characters of the film were blunt, brash, and stood up for what they believed in. "Eddington" is one raw outspoken film that one should not miss.

Director Ari Aster tackles the political and societal nightmare stemming from COVID, set in a fictitious town in New Mexico where a bleak landscape of despair and anxiety has taken over. This unwieldy and heavy-handed film is Aster's game attempt at portraying political rigidity on both sides of the fence and one man's slow unraveling even when his beliefs are sincere and ironclad. The biggest drawback is that Aster bites off more than he can chew. A tighter film would have picked its battles and left the rest for us to judge on our own.

A superior acting lineup bravely does its best with a cartoonish screenplay. Joaquin Phoenix gives it his all in a buffoonish role as the local sheriff who despises COVID restrictions and dogmatically stands up against their enforcement even when the townspeople are willing to comply. The problem is that Phoenix often has to carry the whole film himself. Emma Stone, Austin Butler and even Pedro Pascal are consigned to compelling, but smaller roles that barely dot the desert landscape.

Despite its punishing running time, the film is never boring. A more apt term would be "wearying" and it's not just because of the unpleasant memories of 2020 that are evoked. Simply put, it doesn't know when to quit and just when there's the possibility of a merciful, chastening conclusion, it has to be dragged along even further. Despite the bludgeoning that the film starts to inflict, especially towards the end, it does linger on as a compelling depiction of how lost the country is politically. What could have been a sobering and powerful morality tale ends up coming across as considerably less in the end, as if retreating back into caricature, just when it was about to say something serious.

In the end, Aster needs to learn how to edit himself and stop trying to do too much and understand that longer is not always better. If you're looking for his best craft, this simply isn't it. Not recommended, except to the most narrow audience that embraces irony and nihilism at the expense of all else.