Eddington Review: A New-Age Western!

It is said that with the passage of time humans begin to forget pain, thus making the same mistakes and decisions all over again. This being said, as years go by it is easy to look at the past through a nostalgic lens, reminding ourselves of better times than we are presently living in. It wasn’t until 2020 that this phenomenon seemed to appear false as the COVID pandemic slowly, yet brutally left the world in an unknown spot. Everyone was subjected to quarantine in their homes followed by the mandatory use of face masks to prevent spread of the virus. It may be the first time if you were to ask someone if they had any fond memories from five years ago that their answer would tell us an entirely different story than if you asked about ten years ago.

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Ari Aster, known for his horror films Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau is Afraid, has taken on a horror known all too well to men and women. Structuring a story about 2020 in the age of COVID, Aster has created a western drama harnessing real events to provide commentary on politics and human nature. Although it may be a mixed bag at times, Eddington is able to push through some of its more complacent material to display Aster’s true talent as a storyteller and modern director.

In Eddington, Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) is struggling to fit into this new world of lockdown, refusing to wear his mask due to the impression that Eddington is not dealing with COVID like larger cities. The town is under the power of Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), whom Ted clashes with due to their differentiating opinions. In order to take back the town he loves, Joe runs for Mayor against Ted, setting off a chain of events that turn the town of Eddington into the scene of a classic western.

Eddington is at its best when it is capitalizing on the western film conventions it is pulling from in the face of modern issues. The face off between Joe and Ted plays like a metaphorical shoot out among the men with their beliefs and ideals as their gun. The themes of justice and individual sovereignty are presented to mirror the way the pandemic divided townspeople, states, and even countries. Where western films tend to follow a rulebook of setting its scene in the 19th century, Eddington is able to blend genres in an engaging way, taking risks that allow audiences to witness a fresh take on how the past can resemble a circle that always comes back around.

Eddington has moments in the middle where, like a western, it gets to a standstill but then picks up later on. The beginning exploration of the relationship between Joe and Ted presents a strong subplot of the clashing POVs of two men while the last hour (and some change) is able to fully lay its cards out on the table and let each storyline conclude. However, the integration of very real events, such as the death of George Floyd, makes it difficult to maintain a cinematic quality that feels authentic and creative at the same time.

There is a balance that often needs to be stuck in a film when dealing with real events, figures, and situations that Eddington, for the most part, is able to do. On the other hand, when it presents extremely real and specific circumstances the film doesn’t harness them to move the film forward. Instead, it feels like time capsule moments to identify the scene and time period but is not able to tie them together in a way that feels fluent with the rest of the film.

Aster’s vision, through his direction and writing, is what allows Eddington to present its largest ideas to its audience in how 2020 was both a breaking point and a catalyst to even more destruction. The film shows how the pandemic allowed us to tear ourselves apart from the inside out.

This moment in time allowed our preestablished and unfinished anger and fear to reach its breaking point, where people were able to harness a non-human entity and mold it into a political issue that could be used to tear each other to shreds. Eddington reaches a point where it authentically exemplifies how 2020 became like the Wild West, where anger and fear flew like rogue bullets. Aster does not necessarily choose a side to empathize with but rather presents what was. Although it throws a lot out there that doesn’t all stick, Eddington is more of a representation of what Aster is able to do behind the camera with the story we all created at his disposal.

‘Eddington’ Rating – 3.5/5