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Find out moreOn October 9, 2025, the premiere of the new film "Eddington" directed by Ari Aster will take place in Russia, five months after its first screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Aster, known as a preeminent master of the horror genre, has achieved cult status thanks to his works "Hereditary" and "Midsummer," both highly regarded by fans. However, this time he decided to experiment with a Western—and not just any Western, but a comedy. The film stars world-class stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler. Despite the presence of such renowned actors, the film has received rather lukewarm reviews. Film critic Elena Bolotnova, who has closely followed Aster's work since his early short films, watched "Eddington" and shares her impressions:
- What's really going on in a small town located in New Mexico?
- Ari Aster decided to move away from the horror genre, which had always been close to his heart, for several reasons. Firstly, he sought to explore new creative horizons and not stick to one genre. This move allowed him to expand his horizons and explore other genres, which could enrich his artistic vision.
Furthermore, Astaire wanted to avoid the risk of audience fatigue with his work, which often happens to directors who stay within the confines of one subject for too long. Expanding into other genres can open up new avenues for development and expression. Ultimately, this decision reflects his desire to constantly grow and experiment, which is an important aspect of any artist's creative career.
- Where in this film can you find moments of laughter?
- How can police officers, environmental activists, and nationalists coexist in the same city? The answer is obvious - they can't.
Chaos of Events
In 2020, Eddington found himself at the center of social unrest, as a mayoral election loomed on the horizon and the evolving pandemic served as a tool for pressure on citizens. Sheriff Joe Cross, played by Joaquin Phoenix, openly ignores the rules imposed by Mayor Ted Garcia, played by Pedro Pascal: he refuses to wear a mask or maintain social distancing. His reasons for disobedience are simple: first, Joe has asthma, and wearing a mask makes it difficult for him to breathe. Second, he believes that requiring masks in public is discriminatory against the residents of Addington. Moreover, Joe deeply believes that Garcia has ill intentions. As an example, he recalls how the mayor seduced his wife, Louise, played by Emma Stone, in their youth. With each passing day, the pressure mounts, and Joe decides to run for mayor. He is confident that he understands the needs of the city's residents and can guarantee them transparency and safety in their dealings with the authorities. His first task, which he considers crucial in his bid for mayor, is to expose Ted's hidden machinations so that the public will know the truth. However, his colleagues do not show much enthusiasm to support him in the election campaign. Moreover, his wife decides to leave for another.
Director Ari Aster invites viewers to immerse themselves in complete madness. There's room for everything in his narrative—honestly, even if aliens appeared on screen, it wouldn't be surprising. At first, it might seem like a traditional story about brave sheriffs awaits us, but the events of 2020 bring their own changes.
You can't just stand up for a woman if you're a man: in light of the Me Too movement, her opinion will carry more weight, and you could find yourself at a disadvantage. You can't thoughtlessly promote an African-American to a new position: in light of the recent events with the murder of George Floyd, it could look like sucking up. And you shouldn't even disperse protesters: calls for order captured on video could be perceived as an act of aggression.
Thus, Sheriff Joe Cross finds himself in a world where he is clearly experiencing the difficulties associated with a midlife crisis and does not realize that his life principles no longer correspond to modern conditions.
If this complex web of interconnections isn't enough to fully grasp the surrounding chaos, Aster deepens the metaphor with a wealth of small details. For example, the data center being built outside Eddington with the mayor's approval is called SolidGoldMagikarp. This is also the term used when Chat GPT produces a random answer to the most basic question. This results in chains of answers that have nothing to do with each other—much like the processes unfolding in Eddington.
This network certainly exists only in the imagination, but its impact is felt in reality—as are the diverse perspectives of the people living in Eddington, whose contradictions lead to inevitable catastrophe. Has this disorder always existed in this town, or has the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a new reality? This question remains unanswered.
New events unfold in every moment of the film. As a result, what the director calls an ensemble drama turns into a disorganized movement of characters through various locations. Their actions seem meaningless, they act as they do simply because it's their nature. The youth are constantly rebelling, the sheriff clashes with those around him, as he is inevitably a conservative type completely ignorant of political issues, and his young wife will, in all likelihood, leave for a mysterious and attractive guru. Surprisingly, Louise's actions reveal a fairly clear motivation. Her husband, towards whom she has clearly cooled, has used her personal tragedy as a means of manipulation to influence voters. It is only natural that she will strive for change, especially if someone charming and friendly appears in her life.
Each of the characters presented on the screen, in one way or another, demonstrates elements of madness. At times, it seems as if their behavior hints at certain mental disorders, so eccentric are both the characters and their actions. However, the overall chaos that reigns in the plot obscures the details: against this backdrop, the characters appear quite ordinary, and familiar everyday conflicts take center stage. The result is a rather confusing "Haters gonna hate" film, which is quite tedious to watch. Perhaps this chaos is a result of Astaire's experimental method. The director is constantly seeking new paths, and, as a rule, he succeeds. However, it seems that in this case this is not the case.
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Chaos of Approach
"Eddington" is the fourth full-length work Ari Aster. Throughout this time, the director has collaborated extensively with A24, which played a key role in shaping his reputation as a visionary in genre cinema. In 2018, Aster's debut film, the horror film Hereditary, was released under the A24 banner. This film became a true focal point of the past year and significantly contributed to the increased interest in the horror genre among a wider audience. Post-horror films, as they are now called, have become a genuine trend, and Hereditary has confidently earned a place among the most frightening films. Although calling it "the scariest" would not be entirely correct, for viewers previously unfamiliar with the genre, its premiere was a real discovery - it turns out that horror films can be quite attractive and touch on important social issues.
The following year, Aster again demonstrated his talent, presenting to audiences the film "Midsummer" - a post-horror film about a young girl who goes to an unusual community to celebrate the summer solstice. This film, in many ways reminiscent of the legendary "The Wicker Man," was a hit with genre fans, while the general public was once again impressed by the film's visuals and terrified by the most basic jump scares.
Thus, Aster took one of the leading positions among directors working in the genre of audience horror. However, in 2023, he unexpectedly presented the film "All the Fears of Bo" - a dramedy telling about the turbulent events associated with the life of a young man named Bo.
Surreal The tragicomedy starring Joaquin Phoenix polarized critics, with some claiming it was a complete failure and others hailing Astaire as an outstanding young director of our time. However, despite the box office failure, it became clear that Astaire was uncomfortable within the confines of the horror genre and was determined to leave it behind.
Genre Chaos
The primary genre category of Eddington is the Western. This classic American genre, dedicated to cowboys, sheriffs, and exciting duels, seemed to have exhausted itself long ago. It experienced several "deaths": first after its heyday in the 1940s, then with the advent of iconic spaghetti Westerns, and finally in the era when mainstream action cinema reached its peak of popularity. In today's world, only Tarantino's name is associated with successful Westerns, and his films stand out from the crowd.
It turns out that space for new ideas is open. Now is the perfect time to create a fresh Western. It's important to note that such attempts have already taken place: Neo-Westerns such as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and The Sinners (2025) became outstanding examples that transformed the traditional genre into a manifesto of rights and freedoms. Aster seems eager to become part of this movement, joining those directors who have managed to present a new interpretation of the Western, known as "neo-Western".
Aster masterfully applies the key elements of the genre: the action takes place in a small town in the Southwest, where a smug but, at first glance, good-natured sheriff reigns supreme, and rioters create problems for peaceful residents. The mayor, apparently, was supposed to be the local cowboy. The theme also lives up to expectations: the capture and liberation of territory is a classic Western plot arc.
In a traditional Western, everything is presented much more simply: the plot moves in a straight line, and the characteristics of the characters are immediately They make it clear who is good and who is evil. In modern Westerns, the themes become more multifaceted, and the heroes' goals take on new ethical nuances—the emphasis shifts to issues of discrimination and oppression. If Aster had tried to create a film with a relevant moral concept while remaining true to the style of classic Westerns, audiences would likely have been shocked by the excessive moralizing and pomposity. However, since it is, after all, a Western, the genre allows for elements of comedy, which softens the perception.
Traditionally, the Western genre is a combination of various styles. Many films in this direction lean either toward grandiose action scenes or comic situations, and sometimes even touching dramas. In this genre, there is room for everything. For example, Aster decides to present "Eddington" as a black comedy, but the result is not very funny. It's hard to laugh at the crisis an ordinary man is going through, and moments that might otherwise evoke laughter are more likely to evoke a sense of sympathy.
For example, the sergeant's accidental promotion doesn't evoke even the slightest chuckle—as if it were somehow funny that a black man got the new position. Or Austin Butler's character, Vernon Jefferson Peake, is a cult member who, it would seem, should be like a comedic element, but against the backdrop of the general madness, he absolutely does not stand out.
Can we say that Astaire failed to realize his ambitions in creating an original Western? Hardly: he created a high-quality film that corresponds to the basics of the genre, but it is impossible to call it truly innovative.
Chaos of Opinions
The difficulty seems to lie in the desire to express too many ideas. Aster himself was involved in writing the script and, perhaps, he lacked editing. At a certain point in the film, the viewer witnesses a clash of different points of view, in the center of which is Sheriff Joe, who is against everyone.
Aster tries to put forward diagnoses to people who already have established medical opinions. Each of those present has their own, sometimes very subjective opinion, which often turns out to be completely unfounded. Discussions about who is right become a familiar scenario.
At one of the scenes, Joe and Ted are having a discussion - at first glance, about the right of a homeless man to visit a bar. However, their true goal is to find out who owns the territory on which the bar is located. They are not limited to simply discussing the responsibilities and powers that determine who can make decisions. It's much more important for them to demonstrate their beliefs, emphasizing that their positions are unique and significantly different from those of their opponents. This pattern is repeated in various situations throughout the film, whether it's the police and youth's views on protests or discussions of privilege.
Joe Cross may seem like the most obvious character in Eddington, but Aster actually reveals very little about him. It's known that his father also served as sheriff, and his wife appears to be a good-natured woman. Furthermore, he has a mother-in-law with slightly eccentric traits who lives in his house. Overall, Joe is the epitome of a sheriff who stands up for good and opposes evil.
It's unclear why Joe decided to run for mayor. By making this spontaneous decision, he trapped himself—now he's forced to commit unimaginable, strange, and frightening acts to achieve his goals. Joe strives to follow his political convictions, but they also seem quite unusual: he advocates for the rights of ordinary citizens and their freedom, but at the same time evaluates everyone through the prism of his own experience. For example, he has difficulty breathing in a mask due to asthma - this, of course, does not justify his attempts to ignore established rules and push others to do the same, but it emphasizes that he is more likely to project his personal experience than to truly care about the well-being of others.
Mayor Ted Garcia isn't as simple as he might seem at first glance. Although he presents himself as a consistent liberal in public life, behind closed doors his true feelings are quite different. In private, he takes off his mask, and it becomes obvious that he is less concerned about solving the city's pressing problems than about the fact that his son Brian might end up in an unfavorable environment that could negatively affect his father's reputation. While Brian himself goes through a series of identity crises, he begins to find more in common with the protesters than with his own parent.
The film features numerous protesters, and there are plenty of reasons for their discontent. However, when it comes to the specific reasons why each of them protests, they seem rather strange. Interestingly, even Nazi terrorists in this situation carry out attacks on whites. What's really going on in this town?
The film's final act completely destroys any attempt to establish any balance in the distribution of power. It seems as if all the good people have capitulated, and Eddington has descended into complete chaos (it's hard to find another word to describe a situation where a person bordering on confusion becomes mayor, and no one seems bothered by it). Perhaps this is precisely what Ari Aster was aiming for—chaos in a carefully controlled universe. However, what to do with the fact that this image is too clearly a reflection of modern reality?
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With each new film, Emma demonstrated her ability to transform into a wide variety of characters, from comedic to dramatic. Her work in films such as "La La Land", where she won an Oscar, demonstrated not only her acting skills but also her musical abilities, which further strengthened her popularity.
Furthermore, Emma's personal life, her sincerity, and her ability to stay connected with fans have made her more relatable and understandable. She is not afraid to share her experiences and views, which creates a special connection with the public. It is thanks to these qualities that we fell in love with Emma Stone and continue to follow her career and success.