Director Ari Aster gave us the impressive one-two of Hereditary and Midsommar in 2018/2019. His follow up was the very disappointing Beau is Afraid. He returns now, with his fourth film, Eddington. It is set in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Mexico, and it examines the political and social turmoil caused by the contested mayoral election fought between Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) and Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal).
Whilst this is a step up from Beau is Afraid, on the basis that it is divertingly entertaining, and it is beautifully lensed by Darius Khondji. But it is also a sprawling mess. Cross is a Covid denier, who seems initially benign, bit will actually do anything to gain power. Garcia is a corrupt politician in the pocket of business. As well as those two, Aster takes pot shots at creepy cult leaders, white privilege, liberals who beat themselves up about that privilege and black lives matter protesters, amongst others.
There are a few moments that made me laugh, but more that fell flat and it is so all over the place, it is hard to decipher what Aster’s point is, other than we are all hypocrites. Unfortunately, that will mean that anyone watching will cherry pick the critiques that back up their already established point of view.
Phoenix is an actor who I often think is over praised but this is one of the very best of his performances as he mentally and physically disintegrates as the story develops and he catches Covid. Emma Stone plays his wife but her strange subplot feels superfluous, and in a film that is overstretched at two and a half hours, she did not need to be there.
In the end it is a curious movie, that I sort of enjoyed, despite its many flaws, but would have no interest in seeing again.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10