Review: Eddington

Official synopsis: In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff, Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor Ted (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.

Ari Aster is one of the most talked about directors of the last few years. He started off with a bat-shit crazy short, then made two great features, and his last go at the theater - Beau is Afraid - was a self indulgent mess. But still, Aster has promise. And despite not like Beau Is Afraid and not wanting to sit through a COVID movie, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. 

Three people walked out of my showing of Eddington at various points, and they were the lucky ones. I didn't think it was possible to be worse than Beau Is Afraid, but Eddington manages to be completely insufferable and ultimately has nothing of substance to say. And granted, the lead character of Eddington is SUPPOSED to be insufferable. He's an anti-masker and general doofus, but I kept waiting for a better story to emerge, and that never happens.

To Aster's credit, he does capture how much of a shit show 2020 was. I just felt a bit weird that he equated anti-maskers and conspiracy theorists to just as bad as over zealous protesters. Then he throws in a "progression terrorist group" at the end so he can have his big shoot out.

There's an interesting story about Joe's wife (Emma Stone) who falls for what seems like a cult leader (Austin Butler) but that is barely explored. There's a scene where Joe makes an accusation on his wife's behalf, and she's forced to post a video online calling him out, and it just ends there. THAT would be an interesting story.

I thought the film might go in the detective route in the third act when a much better neighboring Officer Butterfly (William Belleau) comes into the picture, but that resolution is awful.

The actors were good, there are some things here and there I can appreciate with this film, but it's easily the worst thing I've seen in 2025 so far.

Grade: D