Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.
Eddington is a boldly conceived neo-western dark satire using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pressure cooker for American political and social fracture. Ari Aster's foray into genre-blending territory feels genuinely singular — fusing Coen Brothers absurdism with pandemic-era paranoia and social media radicalization in a way no other film quite does. The acting ensemble, led by Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, delivers committed, idiosyncratic performances that elevate the material. The cinematography captures the bleak, sun-scorched New Mexico landscape effectively but without particular visual innovation. The plot's satirical ambitions are sharp but occasionally lose coherence as threads multiply, and the ending is divisive — feeling deliberately anticlimactic and tonally murky in ways that frustrate more than reward, suggesting unresolved intent rather than purposeful ambiguity.