Written and directed by Ari Aster, Eddington is a neo-Western satirical black comedy set in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eddington is now showing in cinemas worldwide and stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone.

The story takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 in the small town of Eddington in New Mexico, where everyone must social distance from each other, wear face masks, and stay at home as much as possible. Joe Cross is the sheriff of Eddington and disagrees with all the COVID laws, even though he is supposed to be enforcing them and is also asthmatic. Ted Garcia, the mayor of Eddington, has put all these laws in place for the safety of everyone.

Joe and Ted often come into conflict with COVID laws, and with an election coming up, Ted is hoping to keep running as mayor, while Joe decides to run for mayor to lift all the COVID laws and is willing to take extreme measures to get himself elected.

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Joe Cross, who, on top of having to be the sheriff of Eddington, is also going through a downward spiral in his personal life, mainly due to his failing marriage with Louise. Despite having asthma and having to enforce the COVID laws, he constantly ignores the rules by refusing to wear a face mask or not wearing it properly, not making others wear them, and not doing much about COVID-related incidents, and this all leads to him running for mayor just to abolish these laws.

Joaquin’s performance shows a man in a position of power, but he has lost his way during the pandemic and is letting his ego cloud his judgment, even at the expense of his health and the people around him.

Pedro Pascal portrays Ted Garcia, the mayor of Eddington, who introduced the COVID laws to keep everyone safe and prevent the virus from spreading. Ted is shown to have a good heart and genuinely cares about the people of Eddington, but also has some complications in his personal life, mainly with his rebellious son, Eric. Pedro’s performance shows a man simply doing the best he can despite the circumstances.

Emma Stone plays Louis Cross, the wife of Joe, who is emotionally unstable. She doesn’t get as much screen time, but the scenes she does get all stand out and are impactful on the story. Seeing her without makeup is certainly a different look for her, making her appear much older than all her other roles and someone who is fed up with life. She and Joe live with her mother, Dawn, played by Deirdre O’Connell.

Matt Gomez Hidaka plays Eric Garcia, the delinquent son of Ted. Despite being the mayor’s son, he is always up to no good and often rebels against his father. He hangs out with Brian, played by Cameron Mann, and even though they’re supposed to be best friends, Eric doesn’t always treat him like one and purposely does things to upset him. Brian seems to only associate with people he thinks are cool or is interested in, by liking what they like and even participating in protests, whether he believed in them or not, especially with Sarah.

Amélie Hoeferle stars as Sarah Allen, a social justice influencer often protesting about real-world events such as the George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter movement, which happened during the pandemic. Even in a small town, she’s able to get a fairly big group of people to protest alongside her while still abiding by the laws, which of course irritates Joe.

Eddington is a stark reminder of what the year 2020 was like, which many of us would like to forget. It’s noticeable that most characters wear face masks, practice social distancing, and disregard the COVID laws put in place, leading to conflicts over these laws. It shows the divide it had amongst people, with those who believed it and wanted to protect themselves, those who claimed they couldn’t wear masks for health reasons and being removed from local businesses, and those who believed it was all made up and a big conspiracy theory. All of this plays into the overall plot of the movie quite well.

With a runtime of 2 hours and 25 minutes, it manages to hold the audience’s attention from beginning to end with the vast number of characters, each with their motives and places in the film. The story shows a lot of potential early on, but after the halfway point, things become a little bizarre with its plot twists, and it is still interesting. When it gets towards the end, however, it certainly has its moments, but it will leave a lot of moviegoers unsatisfied and confused.

The actual ending, like everything else, is also interesting but not the most satisfying either, and will make you wonder why they went with that ending. Whether it’s a happy or sad ending is debatable, but it feels like an ending that’s different for the sake of being different. It’s been a few weeks since I saw this film, and I’m still unsure what to think of it, but it’s not a movie I would like to see a second time, and I’m sure a lot of people would just be glad to get to the end credits.

Eddington is a fictional town set in the American state of New Mexico. Still, the film was shot in different locations throughout New Mexico to get that authentic New Mexico look and feel for a Western film, with its deserts and open land around the town. Bobby Krlic and Daniel Pemberton composed the film’s score, featuring tunes that add to the Western setting.

Eddington is an interesting film for the most part and has its moments, but it may leave you unsatisfied by the end. However, it somehow holds your interest the whole way through, even for a film that is 2 hours and 25 minutes long. Long films can drag on when not done well, but Eddington, despite not being the best film out there, surprisingly holds your interest and curiosity from start to finish, so credit where it’s due.

Being set during the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects the laws had on the characters is something we can all relate to. Eddington might not be a must-see movie of 2025, but it’s at least worth a watch.

Written by: Sammy Hanson