Shadows on the Wall

Eddington

dir-scr Ari Aster
prd Lars Knudsen, Ari Aster, Ann Ruark
with Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Micheal Ward, Deirdre O'Connell, Amelie Hoeferle, Clifton Collins Jr, William Belleau, Cameron Mann, Matt Gomez Hidaka
release US 18.Jul.25,
UK 22.Aug.25
25/US A24 2h28

CANNES FILM FEST

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Set in a New Mexico town during the pandemic, this story is crafted as an ambitious modern-day Western by writer-director Ari Aster. A large number of messy characters swirl around each other, with clashing opinions that sometimes involve unhinged ideas. The issues are huge, with even bigger implications as confrontations spin wildly out of control. Laced with provocative irony, this is a dramatic epic that forces us to think.

During lockdown in May 2020, Eddington sheriff Joe (Phoenix) raises hackles by refusing to wear a mask, locking horns with nice-guy mayor Ted (Pascal). Meanwhile, Joe struggles to connect with his wife Louise (Stone), who with her mother Dawn (O'Connell) avidly follows populist conspiracy-theory guru Vernon (Butler). While arguing his point that there's no coronavirus in this county, Joe turns to social media and decides to launch his own campaign for mayor with the help of his deputies (Ward and Grimes), vowing to fight the deep state. But clashing ideologies create havoc in the streets.

Campaigning quickly becomes very dirty, as both Joe and Ted deploy vicious rumours and sympathy-grabbing imagery to gain voters. There's also an issue with a big tech firm that's building a data centre on the edge of town. Rather than protest this, teens are distracted as they defy pandemic rules and stage Black Lives Matter protests that escalate into a riot against everything. And with larger forces at work here, events become increasingly heart-stopping

Phoenix gives Hutch a remarkably offhanded charm that obscures his bluster. Joe is hanging by a thread, desperate to maintain peace but missing the point. So each time he snaps is chilling. By contrast, Pascal's soft-spoken Ted is a steely opposing force, grounded but compromised. Each surrounding character is a collision of personality traits, which leads to several astonishing confrontations. Standout support comes from Ward as a deputy caught in the middle. And teens Hoeferle, Mann and Hidaka are terrific in pivotal roles.

Aster paints a darkly satirical portrait of this baffling us-versus-them period in human history, with battles that are a direct result of strained personal relationships spilling into public disagreements. The script asks enormously resonant questions, playing on the fact that most people want simple, neat answers to complex problems like racism, homelessness, political corruption and sexual abuse. This allows Aster to reveal how these major topics feed into dangerous attitudes and actions. It's a reminder that it's not "them" that we need to be worried about.

themes, language, violence 14.Aug.25

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