GrumpyMovieBuff

Eddington is not a movie. At least not how we understand them to be. It's a two-hour-long performance art piece of incoherence, shoved into a theater seat and called "cinema" by people desperate to feel superior for understanding absolutely nothing. It follows no known narrative structure, offers no discernible character arc, and leaves the audience stranded in a surrealist wasteland where meaning has clearly packed its bags and walked out of frame.

And before anyone starts with the usual "you just didn't get it" defense - no, I understood it. The problem is, there's nothing there to get. It's a hollow, self-indulgent mess dressed up in arthouse lighting and whispery dialogue, daring you to say it's bullshickies because then you're the problem. That's the scam. That's the trick. And A24 has built a whole reputation on it.

Ari Aster - if this is still his handiwork - may genuinely be one of the most overrated voices working in film today. At best, he's a guy with a knack for striking imagery and a knack for pushing boundaries; at worst, he's a charlatan who mistakes confusion for depth and trauma for story. Eddington feels like the final proof that he has no real interest in storytelling - just provocation, aesthetic discomfort, and cryptic nonsense that you're meant to applaud like you're watching a genius peel an orange with his toes. Bravo, I guess?

This movie doesn't even offer something to chew on afterward. No moral ambiguity to debate. No thematic weight to unpack. No emotional payoff. It's just a barrage of disconnected ideas, awkward silences, and disjointed scenes that seem designed to dare you to call them stupid - which they are - but in a way that makes *you* feel like the idiot for not applauding.

A24, as a studio, deserves some credit here: they've mastered the art of getting people to stare at their piles of you-know-what like it's a religious experience. Like a trainwreck. You can't look away, but when it's over, you're not enlightened - you're just dazed and kind of embarrassed for having sat through it. That doesn't make for good filmmaking. That doesn't make for good storytelling. That makes for a slow-motion car crash with mood lighting and a synth score.

Eddington is the cinematic equivalent of a smug guy at a party talking in riddles, acting like he's the only one who knows the truth of the universe. Meanwhile, everyone else is just nodding politely, hoping someone eventually has the guts to call it what it is: utterly, irredeemably pointless.

If that's your idea of brilliance, fine. But I'd rather gouge my own eyes and ears out than pretend this film has merit. I know garbage when I see it. And Eddington is one steaming, cinematic pile of it.

Leagues better than most shows these days. A bit ham-fisted at times, but so far it's forgivable. One scene I rolled my eyes and thought to myself; "Oh, here we go, gotta have the obligatory 'modern audience' love interests", but I was quickly shown that I spoke too soon and that made me happy to have my expectation subverted. But still, makes me worry a bit for future episodes. Some talented people involved with the writing and directing, but today's media can't help themselves by having a different director/writer for every episode which often leads to every further episode slowly devolving into a complete disaster. I hope this doesn't repeat those mistakes. I'm definitely going to stick around in the hopes that this will be a good show to watch for the entire season.