Eddington (2025) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL6jZqExlIk

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

It’s always hard to get on the same page these days because some believe their opinion is superior no matter the subject. When that happens, it can feel like talking to a brick wall mostly.


PLOT


2025’s Eddington takes place in the titular city of New Mexico. It is late May of 2020, early into the period of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the United States as much as the rest of the world. In Eddington, Mayor Ted Garcia is implementing a lockdown and mask mandate but Sheriff Joe Cross disapproves and believes the mandates violate freedom of choice. Joe is so against the mandate that he would argue with Ted about it to the point of it affecting his job, as in failing to apprehend a homeless man credited as ‘Lodge’ (Clifton Collins Jr.) trespassing the bar maskless. Joe lives with his emotionally unstable Louise & her conspiracy theorist mother Dawn, and he feels inspired to run against Ted’s tech positive campaign. He recruits Deputies Guy Tooley (Luke Grimes) & Michael Cook to be his campaign aides. Ted sees that this is personal for Joe since the former lost many deputies over a catch and release policy established by the governor, as many came and went for crimes like police brutality and drug charges. Joe does seemingly gain the upper hand early on when posting this argument. The mayor also has a troubled relationship with his son Eric (Matt Gomez Hidaka) due to the absence of his mother. When the son goes out to a local party with his friend Brian, they meet a social justice-minded girl named Sarah (Amélie Hoeferle). Louise is uncomfortable about the campaign since she had to find out through social media, but Joe assures her he is defending her when it’s all said and done since she recalls having an uncomfortable encounter with the mayor years prior. He plans to clear the air by having dinner with her, but she invites radical conspiracy theorist Vernon Jefferson Peak. As Joe campaigns across town, Sarah tries to convince Michael to join her in a BLM protest, but that backfires. Dinner with Peak and two of his followers completely goes awry when all have an intense conversation in theories involving pedophilia & trafficking, especially when Louise implies being abused by her father who was sheriff before Joe. Joe would even be in disbelief when Peak gives a backstory based on recovered memories. The following morning, the campaign gets all the more intense as Joe tries toning down a riot, but his encounter with Lodge has gone viral on social media, making it harder for him to do so without affecting his public image; Michael would still ignore Sarah’s pleas to join the cause. During the riot, things would get so intense when Joe and Eric start criticizing each others’ lives that it would ultimately lead to everyone kneeling in unity. Joe then officially goes public with Ted assaulting Louise to better his chances at winning. When Guy gets permission to post the claim, Louise would leave with Peak to avoid being overwhelmed by the media, especially when denying it online. It is the next day where the sheriff sees the mayor again in the midst of a noise complaint occurring in his fundraiser. Ted takes the opportunity to slap him twice in front of guests for what he said and in response, kills Lodge and dumps his body in a nearby river after breaking into the same bar. He then kills the Garcias, staging it as an Antifa attack. When Officer Butterfly Jimenez (William Belleau) of the Pueblo tribe investigates due to shots being fired on Pueblo land, Joe frames Michael for it by planting Ted’s watch in his cop car, Jimenez does pick up a connection due to recognizing his handwriting on his whiteboard and the graffiti left at the crime scene. Eventually, terrorists arrive and take Michael as they attack the town. When an explosive gets detonated as they track him down, Guy dies from the ripple effect and Michael is severely wounded. When Joe checks on his home, he hallucinates mistaking Dawn to be Louise and admits what he did to the Garcias. Just when the terrorists target his home, Joe does his best in defending himself after stealing firearms from a gun store, but he shoots Butterfly on accident and gets stabbed in the head by one of the enemies when cornered. Surprisingly, he gets saved by Brian who films the whole ordeal. A year passes and the young boy becomes a prominent conservative influencer after posting what happened. Michael survived the attack and has now become undersheriff, still doing target practice at night. Joe would become mayor, but the brain damage he suffered caused him to go paralyzed. With Louise never returning, Dawn would be his caregiver and speak for him in public appearances. Surprisingly, they would see the former on the news attending a rally related to Vernon, pregnant with his baby. The film would end with Dawn and another caregiver going to bed with Joe after maneuvering him into his.


THOUGHTS


It started to become a challenge to see Ari Aster create something that wasn’t an ideal psychedelic experience from what he’s done before, which made it a big surprise for him to switch gears and make a political western. Apart from it qualifying to be a western with a fantastic climactic shootout, that is not what defines it. Hell, I also would’ve not expected the politics set during the Covid-19 pandemic to be a factor considering how it hasn’t been that long by the time this movie came out. If anything, I would credit using this period as a reminder of what a culture shock of a period it was for everyone who had lived it. With impressive cinematography by Darius Khondji, Sharp editing by Lucian Johnston and a foreboding score composed by both Daniel Pemberton & Bobby Krlic, the tension is just endless from start to finish. Seeing such a dispute unfold the way it does gives such a loud interpretation on what happens when people choose to be impulsive when they’re afraid to lose any kind of power. This is the case when seeing both sides unfold between Joe & Ted because with everything they lose, others gain. Joaquin Phoenix shows the former to be one very paranoid in his predicament, believing he can bring the town to however he presumes was glory in the past. His path to do so only leads to him become worse than past criminals he’s arrested since he’s willing to kill the competition and share private information his wife didn’t give him permission to. When you stoop so low with moments like that, you don’t get sentimentality by the time terrorists paralyze him; Being a defender when it mattered most doesn’t outweigh his sins in this case. Pedro Pascal shows the latter as a guy who can bring in the charm to be a better people person, but it’s sadly a facade to cope with his flaws. The details are quite vivid when it comes to whatever really happened between her and Louise since he denies it whereas she remembers enough details for Joe to use to an advantage and likely the reason his wife left him and his son. If he did do it, then Joe’s actions are valid but if it nothing did, then it was all for nothing to the point where you’re not even sure if he deserved it. One thing for sure, Eric did not deserve it in comparison since he’s clueless on the beef. Taking a step back, Emma Stone was brief yet still a scene stealer as Louise because you can relate to the detachment we all felt in 2020, but her reclusiveness is far more personal. With unclear trauma, she stays away from the social world and sticks with her hobby of sewing dolls to cope with all that troubles her within as she does seem easily triggered just as much as the way Deirdre O’Connell portrayed Dawn. Hell, I’m sure her interest in conspiracy theories is her own way to cope with the fact her husband is the source of her daughter’s troubled state. What does seem clear is that Louise fell for Joe at the time because he made her feel safe, but he stopped doing that when using her for a victory he doesn’t deserve. No matter how much of an enigma Austin Butler briefly got to show off as Vernon, she leaves with him because he gives her the space to be herself without the desire to use her. Personally I do think Joe could be the baby’s daddy which is why he cries seeing her on the news, but it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t seem like she’d let him be a part of the baby’s life if he wasn’t paralyzed. If anything matters between them at this point, it is that Louise is genuinely happy where she is and she can pass on to her baby. With so much insanity, it’d be almost easy to forget there was a winner in what was left of a political race. A few are gonna say Michael Cook gained victory since he’s the last one standing and Michael Ward had to portray him as one who had to hide ambition since he’s did seem tempted to join the protests with Sarah. In my opinion, the real winner was Brian because Cameron Mann shows him to be someone aiming for validation. First it was just being attracted to Sarah the way Eric was, but then he listens to what she knows and he becomes all the more driven to find success with lack of principle since he still chose to record his actions and use his ‘heroic’ moment for clout. This does feel like a moment pulled from reality since there are many that record their good deeds and remembering this does sicken me because kindness shouldn’t be leverage for anyone no matter the scenario. Having said that, at least it worked for someone who likely won’t be as bad as Joe or Ted. In short, Eddington is another standout in Aster’s filmography for being just as thought provoking in a whole other setting. If that’s the kind of movie prefer, check this out when you can.