185 min | R | July 18, 2025 | A24
Ari Aster makes a western about a small-town standoff that spirals into apocalyptic violence. Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal destroy each other. This is controlled chaos.
Ari Aster makes horror films disguised as other genres. Hereditary was a family drama until it was not. Midsommar was a breakup movie that became a nightmare. Eddington is a western about a sheriff and a mayor whose petty conflict ignites their entire town into self-destruction. Set in May 2020 in Eddington, New Mexico, the film watches neighbor turn against neighbor as grievances that have nothing to do with the original dispute consume everything.
Joaquin Phoenix plays Sheriff Cross with the same volatile unpredictability he brings to every role. He is a man barely containing his own violence. Pedro Pascal plays Mayor Ted with smooth charisma masking ruthless ambition. The two actors create a dynamic where every conversation feels like it could explode into bloodshed. The supporting cast populates a town of people who choose sides and pay consequences. Every character feels specific and doomed.
Aster shoots on location in New Mexico and uses the landscape to create a sense of isolation and inevitability. The cinematography by Pawel Pogorzelski is gorgeous and deeply unsettling. The production design creates a 2020 small town with tactile authenticity. The violence when it arrives is shocking and brutal. Aster does not flinch from showing what happens when order collapses. The film runs over three hours and earns most of it.
This is a film about American rage and tribalism. The standoff between sheriff and mayor becomes a proxy for every division tearing the country apart. Aster refuses to provide heroes or easy answers. Everyone is complicit. Everyone suffers. This is ambitious, uncompromising filmmaking that demands your full attention.