Eddington is probably going to end up being the most provocative and divisive film of the year. The new film from Ari Aster poses so many questions and works as a mirror to our own society. Ari decides to bring back the early stages of the pandemic as the center piece for his new western. It’s the stage for the mayoral race in Eddington between Joe Cross played by Joaquin Phoenix and Ted Garcia played by Pedro Pascal. The movie heats up to extreme levels in the film from the summer sun, the pandemic, and the social justice protests happening at the time.

I found myself really intrigued in the performances alone from all those involved. Of course, Joaquin Phoenix as Joe Cross is an interesting examination at how quickly a character can be warped. Pedro Pascal, who is a bit more on the sidelines than I expected, still delivers some great moments. Ted Garcia is a complicated character who wants to do good but realizes there’s a price to pay as well. You really see the animosity build between these two in one of the most surreal scenes of the year. A Katy Perry song serves to build this up and it couldn’t be more fitting to the absurdity we’ve witnessed in America.

Eddington is shot and lit beautifully. The desolate state of Eddington in itself is a character. A town that’s seemingly stuck in its own vacuum desperately trying to find its place in the larger scheme of things. The darkness of the skies at night and the emptiness of the vast mountains during the day make it so isolated. It’s probably a reflection of the feelings many had during lockdown and the anxiety of feeling trapped.

Eddington tries to grasp so many themes and events at once that it doesn’t quite firmly grasp anything at times. There are moments where I think Aster is cooking up to something but it quickly gets abandoned. It could be intentional in the way we treat a lot of things in our society or I may be too lax with the film. Although the message isn’t delivered the best, I still see what Aster is trying to say. I just would have liked him to keep more of a focus on what exactly that message was. There’s a lot of obvious true life inspirations to the film from our reality and I think that will always hinder a film. When you use real life in a film it can really pull you out of it because I think we’ve all made up our minds about how we feel about certain situations. This is where Eddington is truly at its weakest and begins to shake. Luckily the performances from everyone are able to pull it back into focus.

Emma Stone plays the character of Louise, a character like many in the film that begin to fall for conspiracies. In a time of uncertainty it’s something we see happen a lot. I found these themes of paranoia and hysteria through such a dark time really intriguing. We see many turn to false prophets or conspiracies that try to make sense of the uncertainties of the time. It’s such a subtle performance Stone gives but the more you sit with it, you really start to feel for the character. Everyone around them is clearly fixated on other things or trying to prove something they forget about family. It’s loneliness that is exacerbated by the anxiety that the pandemic brings. Aster also uses Eddington to talk about the system that eventually will turn on you. Michael played by Michael Ward is part of Joe Cross’ deputies and is just trying to follow in his father’s footsteps. We see during the run time he is conflicted on which side to be. It all quickly starts to make sense by the end, and it was so heartbreaking to see.

Overall, I think Eddington is a film that will be much more appreciated in time. It showcases America at a true turning point in society. The actors are all brilliant in this gorgeously shot film. Although Aster does fumble the delivery of his message he’s still able to bring it home. Eddington ends in a bleak and somber tone much of how I think Aster feels about the state of the nation. Eddington is truly going to be the most talked about film of the year and I think that’s a good thing.