Eddington marks the 4th feature film by writer director Ari Aster who established his film career in the horror genre with Hereditary and Midsommar. With his third film Beau is Afraid we saw Aster forging a new path into a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and ideas. With Eddington, Aster lands squarely in the crime-thriller genre to deliver his best script since Hereditary and the affirmation that he is a filmmaker of formidable talent, depth, and savage wit.
We are in Eddington, New Mexico. It’s May, 2020. We follow well meaning, small-town, sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) during a particularly tumultuous time in recent American history as he faces both professional and personal battles. The country is being hit by one crisis after another. Covid-19 is forcing everyone into isolation, mask mandates are politicizing public safety, George Floyd’s tragic death is sparking violent protests, and social media is a cesspool of conspiracy and controversy. Amid this insanity Joe is attempting to keep is wife Louise (Emma Stone) from spiraling into a mental breakdown. Meanwhile Joe’s mother-in-law, Dawn (Deirdre O’Connell,) is sleeping on their couch and offering a running commentary of their every move. Despite the inconveniences, and a pandemic, life is livable.
Everything is status quo until our good sheriff has to respond to a disturbance at the bar of the town mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). The two men have a deep, complicated history that acts as a tinder box of raw emotions just waiting to be ignited. Joe attempts to remove a homeless man that has broken into Ted’s bar and it gets mildly physical. The incident passes, but Ted’s son, Eric (Matt Gomez Hidaka,) posts video of the incident, making Joe look like a violent bully. The trouble begins. Targeted, and tired of Ted’s schmaltzy Mayoral re-election campaign, Sheriff Joe decides to run against Ted for mayor on a message of human compassion and understanding.
The message is, at first, subtle. The weaponization of victimhood is a slippery slope. But where, say, Darren Aronofsky would have suddenly hit the gas to take us into Crazytown, Aster keeps the flame on simmer until it reaches a “logical” boiling point. Everyone has a desire and a grievance. But who is suffering more? Does that entitlement appoint a winner? Aster eases into convention and spins a crackling crime thriller to find his answer, but not before framing his thesis in a darkly funny lens.
Pascal does a fine job as the charismatic, if smarmy mayor, but he never reaches that moment, so to speak. In fairness he isn’t given much to work with. His character is shallow, simple, and working on the surface at all times. Additionally, two time Oscar-winner Stone is almost wasted as the unstable and frigid Louise. She is great, but her character is never afforded a scene that allows us to connect. Returning collaborator Phoenix is brilliant as Sheriff Joe. Avoiding typical approaches to a seemingly obvious character, Phoenix gives Joe a layered, humanistic feel that justifies his sometimes impulsive actions.
In the small town of Eddington, we catch a micro view of a macro moment. Aster looks back at a time when nearly everyone was pretty much miserable as hell and just fighting to be acknowledged. It reminded me of that old television show Queen for a Day in which contestants would tell their sob stories to compete for fabulous prizes. In the end, though, we are all losers to some degree and Ari Aster wants you to know that.
