By Romina Treviño, Third Year, Liberal Arts
Ari Aster always wanted to make a western. Before he came into the zeitgeist with his hyperreal, yet emotionally veristic, takes on horror with Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019), Aster had written a contemporary western script that he attempted to make into his feature length directorial debut. Although those early attempts didn't materialise, Aster eventually developed that script into what became Eddington - a neo-western set during 2020, satirising the political and social turmoil that sparked from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Set in the fictional town of Eddington, New Mexico, the film follows Joe Cross (played by Joaquin Phoenix), an anti-mask, red-blooded American sheriff in his stand off against the liberal mayor Ted Garcia (played by Pedro Pascal), who enforces both the lockdown and mask mandates. Unsurprisingly, Joaquin Phoenix gives a pitch perfect performance infused with an endearingness that allows for moral complexity in the political standoff between his character, and Pedro Pascal’s portrayal of a liberal mayor. Pascal gives one of his more interesting performances here, and is at his best when sharing the screen with Phoenix. Phoenix’s capacity for subtlety anchors this film in its more crude and on the nose moments.
Aster utilises the barren landscapes of New Mexico to eerily mirror the memory of a deserted world during the pandemic. Which is exactly what this film is attempting to do: hold up a mirror to a time we lived through (recently, might I add) and reflect the hatred, loneliness, confusion and paranoia that so characterised it. By refusing to take a side in the political debate that it portrays, Eddington contorts itself as to not come off as condescending and simply act as a portrait. However, it fails to answer whether that is even possible and at times even comes off as irresponsible.
A film about the infamous pandemic was always going to be divisive. While some have criticised Aster’s portrayal of large scale paranoia as a futile device in anxiety management, others have lauded his use of the western to portray the contemporary ills of our modern souls. Eddington’s best attempts at portraying this disorder are the scenes of protesting crowds where everyone is talking, but no one has any clue what they’re saying. Such moments come the closest to justifying the film's lack of conclusion or perspective.
As an audience member, the highlights of this film are its subtleties. A man taking off his mask as soon as he sees the sheriff do it as a senseless appeal to authority, the liberal mayor's collection of toilet paper: moments of actual comedy that deliver on the satirisation promised by the film’s premise. Aster’s repeated portrayal of individuals filming everything going on around them on their phones was probably the most accurate moment of reflection this film manages to achieve.
Keira Brennan
Despite its entertaining moments and great performances, Eddington avoids adding anything surplus to what we actually lived through and continue to live through every day. It shines in the moments which present ourselves to us, characters we’ll recognise from our phone screens or even our real lives, but does little more than present them. It attempts to be about too many things at once and ends up being about nothing.
However, I did find watching Eddington to be a highly enjoyable experience. Striking the same chord as watching the world dissolve into conspiracy and paranoia playing out on your phone, without actually being in that uncertain time. Aster’s saving grace is realising that he’s not the sane one either, and anyone who thinks their sane might be the most paranoid of all. ‘We are in history’ strikes me as the most cutting remark from the movie. Yet, much like the socio-political conversation it’s attempting to portray, Eddington only adds to the cacophony of voices trying to speak above each other, attempting to say everything while saying nothing at all.
Featured Image: IMDB / Eddington
What did you think of Eddington?
