Eddington: Movie Review

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone
Director: Ari Aster

Ari Aster's latest plunges us back into the world of lockdowns, division and isolationism.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe Cross, the sheriff of smalltown Eddington, a petty-minded man who lives at home with his wife who abhors his touch and his conspiracy-filled mother. 

Refusing to wear a mask despite a state-wide mandate enforced by Eddington's mayor Ted Garcia (Pascal, woefully underused), Cross decides after a confrontation in a supermarket where he defends a maskless inhabitant to launch a bid for the mayoralty.

What happens after is a growing schism and farce as things begin to spiral murderously out of control.

Aster's desire to go back to late May 2020 is supposedly about satire, but all this occasionally rambling story does is simply present a "remember when" mentality, rather than delving into the issues. Throwing in Black Lives Matter as well serves a much similar purpose.

While most of his back catalogue has seen hysteria and paranoia involved in some shape or form, Eddington simply becomes another entrant rather than a stunning addition.

(It's also telling perhaps how divided we still are that of all the insane conspiracy theories put up on screen, not everyone in the entire audience laughs).

Phoenix is insanely watchable as the desperation sets in and his behaviour at the 90 minutes mark is deeply shocking. Yet it's never clear he's anything but immersed in his small man mentality beforehand so there's no sense of a descent into it. However, that doesn't stop him being from anything less than compelling throughout a bloated run time.

Aster is more impressive when the film heads into darker territory with his eye for unsettling comes to the fore and the blood begins to flow.

But while large swathes of Eddington compel, the ultimate lack of coalescing hurts this - a film about how insanity pervades, how big tech sneaks through when nobody's looking and how those mired in their echo chambers have become amplified in their ignorance.

It's got the trappings of something very interesting, but much like any conspiracy theorist when confronted, it doesn't have as much to say as you'd hope.