NFL
By: Matt Overton
Ari Aster make a non-divisive film challenge: IMPOSSIBLE. Eddington marks one of the most exciting days of the year for this Letterboxd user, as the most freaky, quirked up short king we know releases his fourth feature film. After dropping two instant horror classics and the generational Beau Is Afraid, Aster has his sights firmly set on the American West. As the indie filmmaker continues to play with the very idea of genre, Eddington is so many movies wrapped into one. It tackles the coronavirus pandemic, local politics, the poisoning of society by technology and social media, plus every other weird idiosyncrasy Aster could plug in from the glorious year of 2020. This film was an unbelievably good nightmare.
If I had to guess, the first question Ari asks himself when starting a new script is “how can I maximize the discomfort of the audience?” Each of his four feature length films answer this question differently—as do all of his short films—but Eddington is the first time his answer has factored in our own timeline. With the inclusion of the pandemic and the police murder of George Floyd, Aster sets his latest picture firmly in recent events, evoking a very specific sense of time. As heated reviews roll in, this is obviously enough to enrage some moviegoers who would not like to be reminded of what the world just went through.
Once Ari has answered that first question, his next favorite thing to do in his script is to get his best bud Joaquin Phoenix to act out as many awkward and uncanny moments as possible. Here he is Sheriff Joe Cross, a man who is at odds with his moment in time. He appears to be a kind-hearted sheriff who wants the best for his town. He comes across as gruff and a little simple, and he chaffs against those darn mask mandates constantly. But nothing gets under his skin quite as much as Mayor Ted Garcia portrayed by the gainfully employed Pedro Pascal. Seemingly a man of integrity who wishes to be re-elected to continue serving his dilapidated town, Garcia simultaneously has no problems selling out to a corporation pitching a massive data center in Eddington.
The beef between Cross and Garcia is the underlying conflict throughout the film, but it’s chock full of socio-political themes that relate directly to the pandemic and the fallout we’re still processing today. There’s been lots of interesting discussions from filmmakers about the inclusion of smartphones in contemporary cinema, and I tend to agree with those who believe excluding them is for the best. But Eddington is the first movie I’ve ever seen that incorporates them in such a deliberate and compelling way. Phoenix delivers an entire monologue into his front-facing camera, we watch as a citizen films himself killing someone through their screen, and background characters are always pointing their phones at whatever is happening in front of them. It’s a depressing reminder about how much technology has taken over our lives, and this movie specifically dissects how social media has influenced our collective consciousness.
Ari Aster is such a unique artist and his films are such enigmas. They tend to deal in heaps of metaphors so it makes sense why he doesn’t appeal to the masses. I find that his movies provoke such interesting questions that I think about them for weeks on end. Eddington dares audiences to take a risk and feel uncomfortable for two and a half hours, which is a big ask of modern moviegoers. Personally, his films end up clinging to me in a way no other director can accomplish. How social media is ruining our lives, how easily local politics can be corrupted, the way conspiracy thinking can instantly rot a brain and all critical thinking skills—these are all themes that Aster wants people to talk about. Whether or not you can look past how the movie treats both sides of the aisle to have an intellectual conversation is up to you. I found that the movie is so drenched in irony and satire that the gray political ground the movie rests on was not bothersome. It makes fun of everyone equally. Mark my words, I will be seeing this again in theaters.
