Eddington (15)

Eddington

How do you deal with the chaotic drama of our times? According to Ari Aster’s new film, Eddington, by adding yet more chaos.

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Joe Cross, the sheriff of the New Mexican town of Eddington. He’s a salt of the earth type. It’s the time of Covid and Joe’s got asthma and doesn’t like wearing his mask, nor does he like the mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), who once briefly dated Joe’s wife Louise, (Emma Stone), a woman with a history of mental health issues compounded by the presence by her mother (Deidre O’Connell) a conspiracy theorist, trapped with them as a result of the lockdown.  

Joe decides to run for mayor to compete with his arch-rival on an anti-mask, Covid-sceptic, MAGA-ish platform. Austin Butler shows up as a cult leader, proffering his own conspiracist version of politics which centers on widespread pedophilia and attracting the attentions of Louise. The local youth begin to organise Black Lives Matters protests even though the only black character in town is the Sheriff’s deputy (Micheal Ward). This neo-western-cum-satire is as bonkers as the plot suggests. It’s weird, it’s funny, it’s ambitious, so strap in.