Eddington is a 2025 western-drama film released by A24, written and directed by Ari Aster and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Deidre O’Connell, Michael Ward, and Emma Stone. This is Ari Aster’s 4th feature film following Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau is Afraid, and it seems like he’s moving further and further away from the horror genre with every release. This film follows Phoenix’s character Sheriff Joe Cross and Pascal’s Mayor Ted Garcia who have differing opinions over how to handle the Covid pandemic and reignite a rivalry that sparks a powder keg of events for the citizens in the small town of Eddington, New Mexico. I was excited about seeing this one because I enjoy a good western and I feel like it’s few and far between nowadays that directors even try to make a western film. I will say though, outside of the actual setting being in a small desolate, desert town in the Southwest there didn’t feel like a whole lot here that made it a “western”. I really enjoyed the cinematography and the setting here though a lot, it was beautifully shot even if the setting we were in wasn’t necessarily beautiful, and the acting itself was obviously stellar.
It can be a bit distracting at times to be surrounded by a stellar cast of movie stars, but the actors here were strong enough that I didn’t feel that with them. It felt like you were set into the fictional small town of Eddington and dealing with these feuds like the townsfolk were. Joaquin Phoenix always brings a certain level of sympathy out of me with the characters he plays, even if they’re not always the best people or handling their situation properly. I’m not sure if it’s his cadence or the way he talks or what, but he always brings a level of sadness and desperation into the characters he brings to life, and I felt that again here with the sheriff. It was also kind of funny seeing Pedro Pascal play a bit of a corrupt and shady character because he’s generally the grizzled good guy in his projects and he’s so popular right now so that was kind of funny and refreshing to see him step out of the norm here. I also thought Michael Ward who played ‘Deputy Michael’ in the movie was a standout here and had one of the most interesting stories within the story. Emma Stone and Austin Butler’s characters specifically felt like they didn’t really even need to be in this movie, that’s partially why I didn’t even bother putting Butler in the starring section and I generally like him in everything I’ve seen him in, and Emma Stone is a great actress as well. Her character was just so unstable and annoying in this, and I know she had mental issues in this film so it was meant to be like that, but that still didn’t stop me from rolling my eyes every time her character came back on screen, and to make matters worse it didn’t really feel like she needed to be there fully to progress the major story beats forward. It especially felt that way with Austin Butler, he had minimal screen time and felt like he was only there to progress Emma Stone’s story forward and that wasn’t even one of the main stories.
This movie was very much so set within the Covid-19 Pandemic and a lot of the story revolved around that very real story beat. I will say I wasn’t exactly the most excited for that aspect of the story because it still feels like yesterday that we all lived in that hellscape and I wasn’t sure that I or anyone else was really clamoring for a film revolving around that just yet. Being the artist that Ari Aster is though, I was still interested to see how he handled the material, and I think overall, he did a pretty good job. He equally pokes fun at both sides of the spectrum and calls out a lot of the nonsense for the ways we thought and the ways we treated one another during that time that thought differently from us. This movie also goes over the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests and Antifa’s infiltration of the cause because it was set right in the summer of 2020 when all that went down (what an absolutely crazy summer that was!). It kind of feels damned if you do or damned if you don’t when it comes to laughing at the comedic moments in this movie though because a lot of the comedy came from those STILL very touchy subjects and poking fun at one or both sides of the spectrum for how they acted during it. Hard to laugh and feel like you aren’t silently being judged or boxed into a corner by the strangers around you, but honestly, I can chuckle at the lunacy of both sides no problem when it comes to the handling of certain situations, and the way Aster laid out the characters in this movie, this was one of those situations. The film also took a major shift probably an hour and 45 minutes into it or so and becomes something almost entirely different in the blink of an eye, after 1 singular shocking moment. That’s all I’ll say about that because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but it almost felt like we took a complete shift from what we were doing and the story we were telling and just didn’t look back and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I was still interested and pulled in for where we were headed now, but it almost felt like this movie had a whole lot to say (almost too much) and laid out a lot of different plot points and things that could be interesting if we continued down that path, but we never fully committed to any of them.
This movie was a lot of things. It was a drama somewhat, a western somewhat, a comedy somewhat, and an action film somewhat without ever fully feeling like any of those things. But it was still Ari Aster, so it was well made, and the characters themselves were well written but be warned if you’re interested in seeing it because it doesn’t shy away from the not-so-distant political climate that we are still dealing with today. I’ve also heard some people online already saying they felt like this movie went too long and I can kind of understand that. It clocks in at just under 2 and a half hours and that’s kind of long for a lot of folks, especially when you consider it’s a singular story with no world building and not a lot of action. It feels right for a director like Ari Aster though to cut as little from the movie as he can and lay the story out the way he wants it to be seen and consumed, despite that not being up the average movie-goers alley. He’s an artist and this is his piece. I’m sure knowing him that he’s more concerned with how the cinephile community responds to this than he is trying to rake in dough at the box office. It’s a beautifully shot piece of art with stellar acting performances, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with its problems in other areas. If you are interested in seeing it though, it’s in theaters now so go check it out! Till next time!
