Eddington Parent Guide

In sleepy Eddington, New Mexico, not much changes. Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) has been mayor for a while, and Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) has been sheriff for nearly half his life. The burgeoning COVID pandemic, however, is exposing some fractures in the town’s serene façade. Sheriff Cross, who has some strong feelings about local masking policy, has decided to throw his hat into the ring for mayor, running on slogans pulled from social media conspiracies and further deepening the divide in town.

I’m really not sure what this movie is trying to say. If it’s a satire, it’s not as clear as it ought to be, and if it isn’t, then it’s just a mess. I’ve seen Eddington described as a dark comedy, but I didn’t find any of it particularly amusing. Tonal ambiguity aside, the film lacks narrative momentum and keeps driving viewers up dead ends. It’s a profoundly unsatisfying viewing experience.

Worse, this production is about two and a half hours long, which feels even longer when you can’t tell where the movie is going. Incredible cast notwithstanding, the characters are all thinly generic, and mostly unpleasant, which makes it hard to care where the movie is dragging you anyway – and it is dragging you. Were it not for the fact that I’m paid to watch this stuff, I would have bailed on this trip half an hour in.

While you’re getting dragged around this dingy desert, the film throws just shy of 50 f-bombs at you. You’re also going to see some bloody violence, teen drinking, and for some reason, Joaquin Phoenix’s – how to phrase this delicately – entire frontal exposure. I’m not sure what that added to the story, but I’m pretty sure I could have lived without it. After seeing Beau is Afraid, though, it seems like Ari Aster finds it particularly artistically relevant. Sorry Ari, I’m still not sold on that one.