Eddington (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – 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.

My Take – Though, filmmaker Ari Aster quickly became the face of elevated horror with two traumatizing epics, Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019), he surprised everyone by departing from the stereotype by helming Beau Is Afraid (2023), a polarizing and ambitious surrealist tragicomedy that ended up being a box-office bomb. His latest too, surprisingly, has followed the same path.

On paper, this is a film that should work. Particularly as it promises a stylish neo-Western satire set against the surreal and emotionally charged backdrop of 2020’s pandemic-era America. Add to that a stacked cast and a ridiculously ambitious, busy, and an absolutely bonkers screenplay, something that only a filmmaker of Aster‘s caliber could write. Yet, the execution is simply lacking.

Resulting in something that is self-indulgent, bloated, and exhausting. Sure, there brief moments of biting satire and darkly funny commentary, however, they’re all drowned under an avalanche of inconsistency as the film wants to be everything: a Western, a dark comedy, a political satire, a COVID-era meditation, a psychological thriller.

And by the end, the narrative doesn’t leave you stunned or speechless, instead, it leaves you drained, begging for it to just end already. Personally, I felt the film was four years too late, and to get someone now to watch a satirical take-down of the life and times of the pandemic is without a doubt a hard sell.

Set in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the story follows Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), the local sheriff of a fictional town called Eddington, New Mexico, who has been at loggerheads with Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) for a while now.

Mainly as the mayor insists on restrictive mask-wearing and the sheriff refuses to wear his and is resentful of the mayor supporting construction plans for a giant new online server farms. Something that will gobble up resources of the town.

Further causing tension between them is Garcia’s fraught history with Cross’s wife, Louise (Emma Stone), who now suffers from hysteria and depression, Cross’s mother-in-law, Dawn (Deirdre O’Connell), a conspiracy theorist and social media addict, who has uncomfortably shifted base into their family home.

Tired of being the one who has to take orders, Cross decides to hit back by announcing that he would be running for mayor himself, and unwittingly winds up encouraging the townsfolk to get their guns ready for the coming showdown.

The story is solid, and while the material may read serious, the film itself aims for absurd satire. But it all ends up feelings jarring because the film plays everything straight at first, and once the election heats up, things spin wildly out of control cartoonishly. All buried somewhere under the relentless mountain of symbolism, surrealist detours, and exhausting monologues.

While a political contest between these two grizzled alpha males promises some comedy, but the film is trying to be so many things: COVID, Black Lives Matter, social media, A.I, religious cults, and conspiracy theories. And quite a few of these things feel tacked on, not contributing to the main plot at all. All the while making fun of the both the right and the left side of the political spectrum.

It doesn’t help that much of the narrative already feels dated, either. Sure, the COVID era isn’t that far behind us, and the repercussions are still being felt. However, so much has happened socially, politically and economically that it ends up feeling dull, producing more eye rolls than anything. Of course, filmmakers shouldn’t be discouraged from making flicks about that time period.

But it feels like this film is trying so hard to be a challenging take on that year’s civics, and ends up fumbling badly by having a lack of nuance or anything of real value to say.

All leading to a wild final half hour involving some violence and intensity. However, even then, it’s far too little, too late. Not to mention there’s a bunch of bloodshed with little investment because of the poor buildup. Thankfully, as is expected at this point in an Aster project, the visuals here are stunning.

Performance wise, Joaquin Phoenix is his usual excellent self. His Joe Cross is both tragic and ridiculous, a man caught between cowboy mythology and modern impotence. Pedro Pascal sells his Garcia as a calculated charmer. Oozing charisma throughout, even when his re-election campaign collapses into farce.

In supporting roles, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Michael Ward, Amélie Hoeferle, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Cameron Mann, William Belleau, Clifton Collins Jr. and Deirdre O’Connell deliver committed turns. On the whole, ‘Eddington‘ is a tedious neo-Western dark comedy thriller that ends up being Ari Aster‘s most divisive work yet.