Comedy
Drama
Review: ‘Eddington’ is a Genre-Melting Hybrid of Suspense, Comedy and Horror, All Wrapped Up in the Aesthetic of a Modern Western
July 14, 2025Ben MK
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KKnown for such twisted, modern-day horror classics as Hereditary, Midsommar and Beau is Afraid, Ari Aster has only been making feature films for less than a decade. Still, despite his relatively short time in Hollywood, the 38-year-old filmmaker has made quite the impression on moviegoers, attracting a cult following not only with the distinctive cinematic style of his own projects, but with the like-minded aesthetic of his collaborations with other filmmakers like Kristoffer Borgli, Guy Maddin and Alex Scharfman. Now, with Eddington, Aster is re-teaming with his Beau is Afraid star, Joaquin Phoenix, to take on a whole new genre — the contemporary Western. But does Aster's highly anticipated fourth directorial effort live up to the lofty expectations established by his previous filmography? Set in the small New Mexico town of Eddington in May of 2020, during the unforgettable height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the story follows Joe Cross (Phoenix), the embattled Sheriff of Sevilla County and one of the few people in town to decry the policies of its beloved mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). A staunch opponent of Ted whose grumbling criticisms have only grown louder since the pandemic began, Joe doesn't just disagree with his archenemy's decision to support the construction of a massive hyperscale data center in Eddington; he also has reason to dislike Ted on a personal level, thanks to the mayor's former relationship with Joe's wife, Louise (Emma Stone), a local artist whose conspiracy theorist mother, Dawn (Dierdre O'Connell), has recently moved in with them. With Ted's current term coming to an end and him making a bid for re-election, however, Joe finally has a chance to turn his long-standing disdain for Ted into something concrete. But when he decides to run for the office of mayor himself, Joe unwittingly sets into motion a chain of bizarre and disturbing events that could not only bring Eddington to its knees, but also one that could lead to his own demise. With the new Federal health mandates concerning mask-wearing and social distancing turning some of Eddington's citizens against one another, Joe and his two deputies, Guy (Luke Grimes) and Michael (Micheal Ward), have no shortage of hot-button issues to use as fuel for his campaign platform. What Joe doesn't realize, though, is that there's plenty more divisiveness where that came from. And when a teenage social activist named Sarah (Amélie Hoeferle) and her fellow Black Lives Matter protestors begin causing unrest with the town's mostly White population, it makes for a perfect storm of disruption that neither Joe nor Ted are prepared to deal with. Enlisting the help of Ted's son, Eric (Matt Gomez Hidaka), and his friend, Brian (Cameron Mann), Sarah and her activist colleagues become a constant thorn in Joe's side, especially as he tries to deal with the problems in his personal life, such as Louise leaving him to join a cult led by the charismatic Vernon Jefferson Peak (Austin Butler). As tempers reach a boiling point, however, there may be no other way to salvage the situation aside from burning it all down and starting from scratch — an option that begins to look increasingly likely as Antifa activists arrive in Eddington to push their extremist agenda and stoke the flames encircling the chaos. Part satirical black comedy, part simmering suspense thriller, the result is a slow-burning exploration of how quickly neighbors can become enemies and how once-peaceful neighborhoods can easily be transformed into violent war zones. Still, as much as Eddington serves as a time capsule for a powerful moment in history that will forever be seared into the memories of billions around the world, what resonates the most are the movie's themes of how power corrupts and how even the best of intentions can be distorted to the point where they become completely unrecognizable. It's a critical aspect of the story that permeates the film to its core, from Phoenix's performance to the ending itself. So while Eddington may not be a horror movie in the traditional sense, it's easy to see how it fits in perfectly amongst Aster's already impressive body of work. It all adds up to a genre-melting hybrid of razor-sharp social commentary, pitch-black comedy and stomach-churning terror that also happens to be one of the most ambitious films of the year. Yet, while devoted fans of Aster's filmography will probably find themselves enraptured by Eddington, there's sure to be some mainstream audiences who will be turned off by its divisive nature and brutal violence. Suffice to say, this isn't a movie for everyone. But if you're in the mood for a thought-provoking and utterly terrifying modern-day Western, it's brilliant counter-programming for a summer of sequels and big-budget blockbusters. Eddington releases July 18th, 2025 from VVS Films. The film has an MPAA rating of R for strong violence, some grisly images, language, and graphic nudity. Its runtime is 2 hrs. 28 min. |
