‘Eddington’ Review: Cinematic Doomscrolling

After the financial failure of his descent into madness of a film, Beau is Afraid, writer/director Ari Aster has focused his sights on 2020 to take a look at how political division through the advancement of technology could be what causes this doomed experiment named the United States of America to finally collapse under its greed. 

This review contains spoilers for Eddington.

Eddington is a darkly comedic and satirical look into America during one of the worst moments in recent history for the world: the COVID-19 pandemic. The film follows an emasculated asthmatic antimasker small-town Sheriff, Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), who makes a last-ditch effort for power when he decides to take his petty feud with Eddington’s Mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), to the next level when he decides to run against him in the upcoming mayoral election. However, whilst the New Mexican town of Eddington is consumed by the BLM protests, growing hysteria, and social media, the movie then becomes an Ari Aster film as all hell breaks loose and makes you wonder: what is even the point? A feeling many Americans feel today during Trump’s second term, where we are still feeling the long-term effects of our current President’s ignorance toward the Pandemic.

From its opening shot, Aster establishes the threat of big tech lying in the background, whilst civilians are too caught up in their pettiness to focus on a massive change to their town. This opening shot, which is also reflective of its final shot, both hammer home the theme that in a growing digital age, we are growing further and further disconnected from one another. As Aster has said in multiple interviews, he calls the film a “modern western”, and I think that’s probably the most apt barebones description you can give this film; it truly DOES feel like one of the first truly modern films of the 21st century in its usage of social media in the film. Every confrontation between characters involves a cellphone recording of some kind, our protagonist Joe wears his iPhone on his utility belt as if it were a gun, and with how they are used in the film, they might as well be as impactful as the gunfire found more prevalent in the third act. 

Back at Joe’s house, even his own immediate family is torn apart by technology. His mentally ill wife, Louise Cross (Emma Stone), is constantly hounded by her mother, Dawn Bodkin (Deidre O’Connell), who sends conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory into her inbox (and even checks to see if she’s read them too). In Louise’s already poor mental state, it doesn’t help that she has a husband with a deeply wounded sense of masculinity who tries too hard to keep their spark going (if you can even call it that). After the incessant hounding from her mother, Louise discovers online a cult leader who moonlights as a conspiratorial-minded motivational speaker, named Vernon Jefferson Peak (Austin Butler). She becomes immensely smitten with the man and eventually joins his cult, highlighting how those who are in a vulnerable state can be manipulated by whatever nonsense their algorithm is feeding them. 

Aster focuses on this so much so to the point where the third act is essentially a doomscroll by however you look at it. Big Tech soldiers called “Antifa” (they’re not Antifa) are being sent to destroy Joe Cross, a local boy who tried using performative liberalism to impress his crush eventually becomes Kyle Rittenhouse, the only black man in Eddington is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, there are explosions, gattling guns, and body parts flying all over the place. If that doesn’t sound like the cinematic equivalent of a doomscroll, then I fear you must not have an interesting social media feed. 

Eddington is hilarious while also feeling eerily real in its depiction of division in this country through technology. I find it to be an endlessly fascinating film to discuss, especially since we still feel the effects of 2020 in our day-to-day lives. I’ve seen it twice now, and I feel it gets better on rewatch. I also cannot wait for this to be released on physical media so I can pause and read all the little comments Aster included on these characters’ social media pages. Ari Aster has, without a doubt, cemented himself as one of the most interesting filmmakers working today, and I will always be first in line to see what he’s cooking up next. 

Eddington was written and directed by Ari Aster. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell, Luke Grimes, Micheal Ward, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Cameron Mann, Amélie Hoeferle, William Belleau, and Clifton Collins Jr.

Eddington hits digital streaming services on August 12th, 2025. Find it below:

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