“Don’t make me think. Post it.”
Sevilla County Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) blurts out this line during his haphazard campaign against mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) in Ari Aster’s latest film Eddington. Set in May 2020, pandemic panic slowly infects the titular New Mexican town before any nasal swabs come into play. Though our characters dwell in the desert, it’s not the blistering sun which sparks tension, but visceral gray skies and digital displays.
Joe’s badge proclaims he is a man of the law, but he will not put on a face mask. The asthmatic sheriff is immediately introduced to challenge those in power he is supposed to stand alongside. Joe won’t listen to the police force of the bordering Santa Lupe Pueblo, he won’t comply with mayor Ted, and he absolutely won’t pay any mind to his conspiracy-spouting mother-in-law Dawn (Deirdre O’Connell). In Eddington, people are more likely to care about those proselytizing on their screens than the ones pleading in front of their face. Here, electronic Thinkpads just make you dumber.
But, the pandemic is not the only pressure on the town. Mayor Ted supports the opening of a nearby data center that would only drain more resources, and the coverage of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis law enforcement creates more anxiety in the neighborhood. In the film, dynamic protest and outrage soon becomes noise, mere static in the cruel mundane shuffle. Ari Aster presents Doomscroll: The Movie.
Eddington’s script begs the question: Is it cynicism, or is it just reality? Joe’s wife Louise (Emma Stone) cannot confide in her obsessive husband, or her neurotic mother, so naturally, she finds guidance in one of a million virtual messiahs, Vernon (Austin Butler). Mayor Ted’s son Eric and his best friend Brian realize the best way to score with a hot white liberal girl is to Google Angela Davis and check white privilege. Deputy Michael Cooke (Micheal Ward) wants to emulate his father, but as the lone Black cop, finds himself torn between factions of white people telling him what he should think and do. Together, these characters navigate the misinformation which has come to define rightwing ideology, while also arguing that, though the left may not be as delusional, that does not make them sincere. It’s a charged and recognizable portrait of the broken communities which make up the nation.
But it’s hard to decipher if Aster is offering an original critique, or if he is just teetering on the edge of enlightened centrism. What begins as satirical slice-of-life contorts into a first-person shooter video game by the end, and though it may not be urban, it’s surely a sprawl. Aster delivers on his usual bleakness, but if an audience member was in the mood to feel this gross, could they not have spent 2 hours and 25 minutes on Elon Musk’s X instead? If one is used to checking social media first thing after they wake up, Eddington makes for a great matinee.
Eddington opens July 18 with showings at FilmScene in Iowa City, The Last Picture House in Davenport, Varsity Cinema and Fleur Cinema in Des Moines.
