Eddington

⭐ 9.5/10

I know that this might be a super high rating for this movie but I honestly don't care because I want to give it a straight up 10, however, that might be slightly too high of praise. Barely. I have watched all of Ari Aster's other movies and I have to say I am 100 percent a fan boy of his. I remember the first time I saw The Strange Thing about the Johnsons and if you haven't seen that movie, there is no way I can describe to you how disturbing that movie is. Hereditary gave me nightmares when I first saw it at the age of 20. At that time I hadn't been sincerely frightened by a horror movie in a long time. Despite that, Aster made it happen. I felt the same mix of awe and uneasy when I saw his movie Midsommar. Less scary than Hereditary but an unbelievably good movie nonetheless. But it wasn't until I saw Beau is Afraid that I truly got the vision. Despite the mixed reviews, I couldn't get over how locked into that movie I was. It was abstract, funny, scary, it was a career defining movie and it made me see the previous Ari Aster movies I had seen in a completely new light. I was hooked. So when I heard that Ari Aster was making a modern western set during the hight of the COVID-19 pandemic, I made sure to mark my calendar...aaaaaand miss it in theatres due to a vacation. This movie is Eddington and its amazing. It again has mixed reviews that may make someone pause before watching it, but just remember that the movie is based around COVID politics so really, it was inevitably going to have mixed reviews. But those who hate it don't see the vision, they don't see the Aster of it all. And that is so criminal because when you see it, you just get it, on a deeper more personal level. One that makes you feel like you are meeting a person you know you will care about for a long time.

Essentially, Eddington is about the political clash between an anti-mask sheriff, and a pro-mask mayor. This movie primarily follows the sheriff and his mission to run for mayor himself, hellbent on making a change. But curveball after curveball gets thrown at him, everything from mask mandates, mother in laws, protests, riots, cults, terrorists, its really a wild movie. I am going to end my synopsis there because a part of the magic of an Ari Aster movie is the reaction of going in blind. Aster has a really Kafkaesque nature to his work. It's grounded and real but rapidly and seamlessly escalates into absurd political commentary, and his movies almost always end in some crazy unpredictable ending that feels ridiculous and strange but somehow fits the story perfectly and leaves the viewer thinking "Jeez this is odd, but I don't see any other way that this could've ended." It's a gift few directors have and if you've never seen it, you have to.

There is an incredible amount to love here. For starters, the cast is stellar. Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascel, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, even that one guy from Yellowstone. These actors aren't just in the movie to puff up the names on the poster, they all give original, great performances that stretch their acting skills outside of what they normally would be typecast as. They all nail their roles but the star of the show, obviously, is the amazing Joaquin Phoenix. This man is a monster at acting. I can't think of anyone who does it better, and this performance is a crazy outside of the box role for him to absolutely nail. Another thing to love is the cinematography. Ari Aster's eye for shooting a scene is so good. He shoots his films with the eye of a seasoned artist, able to capture not just the scene but the emotion behind the scene. There is this one shot where the sheriff and mayor are having a conversation outside, and Aster synchs their conversation with a storm brewing perfectly behind the mayor, while the sun shines bright behind the sheriff. It's an expert shot that shows not just the acting but the emotion behind the acting and it expertly foreshadows the progression of the film. I also love the twist ending that really hits about two thirds of the way through the movie. And then again three quarters of the way through the movie, and then hits AGAIN near the end of the movie. Ari removes your comfort by never letting you settle on what will happen next. He does it subtly and in a way that fits the narrative, or in other words, his twists don't feel lazy.

I could keep going on but this is already getting really long. I honestly don't have really any critiques of this movie, I know in my heart that it's not a perfect 10/10 but I can't quite put my finger on what it is that's missing. Personally, I expect Ari Aster's movie to reach horrifying depths of disturbing, and this movie doesn't really do that. That's not a bad thing but I think that this could be what I am feeling. It's not quite a disappointment that it wasn't more disturbing, it was more that I had an expectation that wasn't met the way I wanted it to. Not what I was expecting, but I left this movie very happy with what I was given. Again, you really should watch this movie.