TL;DR – While the cast is giving their all, the production quality is there. Unfortunately,  what we get is a film that is weird but not interesting, a satire that does not have the strength to interrogate the themes it is working in, and a third act that dulled me to the point I desperately wanted it to be over and done with.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – This film contains scenes that may cause distress.

Eddington Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a film that could be best described as controversial. It is a black comedy, satirising the current political situation in the United States, which in itself would be a fascinating exploration. But add in the guiding hand of vanguard Indy director/writer Ari Aster, and you should have something intriguing. Unfortunately, for me, the word ‘should’ is the operative word in the last sentence.   
 
So, to set the scene, in the Colorado town of Eddington, people are struggling with the new lockdown laws as COVID-19 runs through the country. It is only May 2020, so we are fumbling around trying to see what would work. In this space, we have Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), Eddington’s sheriff, who may have only got the job because he married Louise (Emma Stone), the daughter of the last sheriff. He struggles with many ailments and is struggling with the COVID-19 restrictions put in place by local mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). After several confrontations, Cross decides to contest the current mayoral elections, which is where everything descends into chaos.

Performances

Now, I did not have a good time with this film, but that is not to say that there weren’t factors that shone. I have to say that every one of the cast is throwing themselves into this movie. All the cast are absolutely fascinating in their roles. Deirdre O’Connell works so fascinatingly well as a destabilising factor, ruining several characters. Pedro Pascal is the perfect political animal, manoeuvring throughout the pandemic with his own future in mind. Austin Butler is wild as a cult leader, Emma Stone is leaning into the profoundly weird, and Luke Grimes is playing the perfect buffoon. But I have to make clear, when I say that Joaquin Phoenix throws his whole body into this film, I am not underselling just how much he brings to the proceedings.

Themes

However, while the cast is fantastic and the production is stunning, what fell flat for me was the story and the themes it failed to tackle. There is a good build-up with the exploration of the pettiness of power and the tragedy of bare-faced incompetence, all leading to a moment that I audibly gasped. But the more we delve deeper into this film, the more we realise it does not have the conviction to integrate anything further than the surface. The right are all deluded conspiracy theorists, and the left are all hypocrites. And, what else? Not much.

The frustrating aspect is that there are hints of interesting concepts here and there, but it is like the film swings from blatantly slapping you in the face with its points to being so obscure that you need to get out a shovel to dig up the point. Eddington is trying to hit so many different beats like the role of social media to divide and radicalise people, the bloated nepotistic elements of politics, the unchecked brutality of police, the self-appointed aggrandising of activists, the co-opting of messages, the infantilising of Indigenous voices, failure to listen to abuse survivors, and the casualness of violence to name but a few. But what we get is quantity over quality in the end, and a satire that fell flat for me. Indeed, probably the only point it successfully portrayed was the whiney, insecure brat to manosphere influencer pipeline.  

Structure

Adding on the issue with the subject material, it is the profound structural issues. The first act is such a long, slow burn that it takes a lot of active work on the part of the audience to stay engaged after the novelty of the situation and actors wears off. Then the second act mishandles all the momentum it suddenly acquired to the point where you have stopped caring for any of the characters in the film. This leaves Eddington poorly positioned to launch into its bonkers final act, because you desperately need the audience’s suspension of disbelief to make that work, and I am sorry, you did not earn it. Instead, what you get is a slow, dreary march to the end.

Conclusion

In the end, do we recommend Eddington? No, no, I do not. That said, the film has received stronger reviews in America, so maybe if you are from there, you will pick up on things that did not work for the international audience, also talking to people after the film, I know there was a wide variety of opinions on the film, so your mileage may vary. But for me, the film did not work on nearly any level. Have you watched Eddington? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Eddington, we would recommend to you Ready or Not, which nailed the satire around the power of the elites in a more focused way.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Eddington
Directed by – Ari Aster
Written by – Ari Aster
Music by – Daniel Pemberton & Bobby Krlic
Cinematography by – Darius Khondji
Edited by – Lucian Johnston
Production/Distribution Companies – A24, Square Peg, 828 Productions, Focus Pictures & Universal Pictures
Starring – Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Amélie Hoeferle, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Cameron Mann, Rachel de la Torre, Amadeo Arzola, Landall Goolsby & King Orba
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: 16; New Zealand: R; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R