If nothing else, writer-director Ari Aster is unpredictable. After making a name for himself in horror circles with Hereditary and Midsommar, one might've naturally assumed he’d stay the course. Instead, he did Beau is Afraid, a surreal, often self-indulgent exploration of extreme anxiety. Being that the film was somewhat pretentious, to say nothing of really long, I think more than a few people wished he’d stick to horror.
But that would make Aster less interesting. There’s a what-the-hell-did-I-just-watch? quality to his visual and narrative approach that makes all of his films memorable, even if we don't always like what he shows us. From a story standpoint, Eddington might be Aster’s most straightforward effort - it’s certainly his least ambiguous - but its themes and social commentary are undoubtedly polarizing. That alone makes the film worth seeing. Too bad few people actually did, because this might be the director’s most compelling work.
It’s arguably his most timely, while also serving as a blistering piece of historical fiction that none-too-subtly singles out a couple of key recent events which widened the already extreme political divide this country is still experiencing today. In that sense, Eddington can be seen as Aster’s most distinctly “American” film, with a small New Mexico town serving as its microcosm.
Taking place in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic, Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) is the sheriff of Eddington and a fervent anti-masker, despite a state mandate. Depending on the viewer, this establishes Joe as either sympathetic or a willfully ignorant dumbass. Then again, I’m of the belief that anybody who’d view this character positively probably wouldn’t choose to watch a movie like Eddington in the first place, so maybe Aster is just preaching to the converted.
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| "That's my hat, goddammit!" |
Ongoing themes permeate the story, such as the motivations of activists on both sides of the political spectrum, as well as how people can take advantage of the media to push their own agendas (facts be damned). And one thing is certain…you sure as hell don’t need a slide rule to figure out how these characters and their actions relate to the real world. Still, Eddington is generally more of an observation than a subjective commentary.
At the same time, it’s very entertaining, even as the tone grows increasingly dark. Filled with an eclectic array of interesting characters and anchored by terrific performances (especially Phoenix), the film also includes healthy amounts of black comedy, as well as Aster’s usual aesthetic flourishes, quirky touches and bursts of brutal violence. In addition to presenting an original and unpredictable story, Eddington perfectly captures the chaos of the most tumultuous era in our recent history. Best of all, I can imagine just as many people hating it, and any movie that potentially polarizing is certainly worth experiencing.
EXTRA KIBBLES
MAKING-OF FEATURETTE
6 SOUVENIR POSTCARDS - Not the usual behind-the-scenes card A24 has typically included. These look like actual retro postcards.
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