Long Covid
A24
MOVIE REVIEW
Eddington (2025)
I often catch myself saying “during the pandemic” in reference to the Covid-19 lockdown, knowing full well that the virus is far from eradicated. Though people hardly mask up anymore, there are still deaths from it in 2025. The lockdown apparently remains very much on the minds of some of the world’s top filmmakers, as we find out from a few of the Cannes Film Festival selections that seem to have been inspired by it either directly or indirectly. Ari Aster’s “Eddington,” which takes place in late May of 2020 in the eponymous town in New Mexico, is a case in point.
Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe Cross, sheriff of Sevilla County. We first meet him as he’s scolded by the sheriff in nearby Santa Lupe Pueblo for violating the mask mandate. Joe has his hands full, having to contend with, respectively: a mentally ill vagrant who’s been a nuisance; Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), who happens to be the ex of Joe’s wife, Louise (Emma Stone); and his mother-in-law, Dawn (Deirdre O’Connell), a conspiracy theorist who has overstayed her welcome due to the lockdown.
Spurred by his own personal vendetta against Ted, and perhaps his own disdain for the mask mandate, Joe hastily announces on social media that he’ll be throwing his hat in the mayoral race. Mayor Ted isn’t exactly well liked, as his proposed hyperscale data center development would exacerbate drought in the area. But as luck would have it, law enforcement is even less popular due to the George Floyd protests across the country. Despite the fact that Joe has a Black deputy, Michael Cooke (Michael Ward), overzealous white social justice warriors begin to organize local protests and incite riots.
While the film is indeed politically charged, Mr. Aster doesn’t take a side or spare anyone. In some of its most hilarious moments, members of the woke mob denounce their white privilege with the verbiage of social studies scholars. Boys join in the activism solely to impress the girls. Mr. Aster doesn't let the opposite side of the political spectrum off the hook either. Joe turns out to be even more daft, more racist, more brutal and more corrupt than the wokesters make him out to be. One of his campaign signs reads “Your being manipulated.”
Of course, Mr. Aster is still very much fixated on cults. Dawn, who believes Covid is an experiment, certainly appears to be in one. The white Black Lives Matter protesters depicted here sometimes register as if they’re in one as well. Then there’s the literal cult leader, Vernon Jefferson Peak (Austin Butler), with whom Louise becomes obsessed after Dawn’s introduction – or shall we say induction.
The acting is great all around. As the dumb small-town sheriff, Mr. Phoenix plays against type surprisingly well. Though stuck in a thanklessly minor role, Ms. Stone also impresses. Overall, the film is well paced, even down to a protracted climactic shootout. Unlike “Mickey 17” from earlier this year, cinematographer Darius Khondji doesn’t have much here to work with, though.
The ending of “Eddington” leaves us exactly where we are today, where incompetence is rewarded, corporate greed triumphs and activists . . . well. In the end, one of the former SJWs in the story successfully pivots to Maga. “Eddington” is entertaining overall, but political commentary and satire are where it truly scores.
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