EDDINGTON
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Austin Butler, William Belleau, and Emma Stone
Director: Ari Aster
NICK
Regardless of what you think of Ari Aster films, they're always interesting and Eddington is no different. With a good chance to go down as the definitive COVID film, Eddington is a window into a time we all wish we forgot. It's political and bound to be divisive to be sure, but it's also tense and exciting and funny and absurd. It's a little bit of everything, but not in a sloppy way, in a deliberate way. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some label this a masterpiece (I’m not, though it flirts with brilliance) but I can confidently say Ari is four for four.
ADRIANO
You can't deny writer/director Ari Aster's films leave a unique impact. With Eddington, that impact left me unsure if the extreme nature of this COVID satire is playing it safe or twisting a societal knife. Eddington could've easily pointed a judgmental finger solely at the most nutty 2020 behaviours, but instead, it examines how this moment was the selfish breaking point for a media-savvy society. As fun as the bizarre turn of events and Joaquin Phoenix's amazing performance are, the impact is something unfamiliar, and that in itself is an accomplishment.
BODE
What do you make of a film like Eddington, particularly after you’ve had some time to mull it over? Well, I’d certainly say that it’s the most engaged I’ve been with an Ari Aster film in a while, especially in the nerve-shredding back half. And while I don’t think it’s the definitive film about the pandemic (that’s Steven Soderbergh’s Kimi), it’s fairly sharp in its observations of the American disconnect at that time. It’s much too long, and most of its humour can feel too obvious, but this is still something of an improvement over Aster’s previous two efforts.
