Filmmaker Ari Aster keeps expanding the limits of what constitutes a horror movie and what we accept as such. And arguably, he’s been doing that since the beginning. “Hereditary” was a horror about family and the legacy of trauma they pass down to their kin, “Midsommar” was essentially a relationship horror and “Beau Is Not Afraid,” Aster’s third film, was an anxiety horror about the terror of domineering mothers. And his latest film, “Eddington,” is an American nightmare movie about the terrifying way the United States has become polarized beyond repair.
“I don’t think we have been able to metabolize just how seismic that was and what it did, but I think we’re still living out the consequences of it, and we’re still living in the process of it,” Aster told Indiewire about the COVID-19 pandemic and how it helped further divide and rip up the social fabric of America. “I also don’t think that was the advent of anything. I don’t think that was the beginning of anything. I think it was an inflection point. But I do think it was the moment at which the last link to whatever that old world was cut for good. And by ‘for good,’ I mean forever.”
His film stars Joaquin Phoenix as a sheriff in a small New Mexico town and Pedro Pascal as its mayor, and the way the two men running for office against each other polarizes their city and leads to disastrously violent results.
“Eddington” also stars Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Michael Ward, Amélie Hoeferle, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, with Austin Butler and Emma Stone.
Here’s the official synopsis:
May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.
Aster’s film made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and was met with—perhaps not surprisingly—divided reviews, but our reporter Elena Lazic seemed to wholeheartedly love it, so make up your own mind.
A24 will release “Eddington” in theaters on July 18. Watch the final trailer below.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
