Eddington

Wow. A lot to process and unpack. Eddington received rapturous applause and huge moments of laughter at Sydney Film Festival. Its chaotic, freewheeling and incredibly funny. Yes - it is Asters best film.

Aster has made an unhinged social satire on the culture wars - the division, virtue signalling and general disingenuousness. And he does so with sub-machine gun precision, much like the one that appears in the final act. Asters is a scattershot approach, rife with motif and self-aware savagery. No one is safe - right-wingers get both barrels, but the resulting shrapnel hits a lot of attention-seeking privileged white kids.

Ideologies fester in the microcosm of the small titular New Mexican town, the fever and sweats mirrored by the ...

Some would say and quite astutely at that theres plenty of madness to go around these days, and theyd be right. But where and when did this begin? A good place to start looking would be the COVID-19 Pandemic, a time when fear was ratcheted up, conspiracy theories ran amok, protective measures slid into excessive overreach, neighbors routinely spied on (and often made unsupported accusations about) neighbors, and peoples imaginations were let loose without restraint. What began as an alleged but widely legitimized public health crisis soon spilled over into myriad other areas of life as tempers, paranoia and disinformation flared to new heights. So why did this happen? As we look back now with the benefit of hindsight, its gradually become...

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/eddington-movie-review-from-covid-satire-to-blood-soaked-western-noir/

"Eddington is an intense portrait of pandemic-era life and its social repercussions, exploring themes of leadership, polarization, and community collapse, anchored by a standout Joaquin Phoenix performance as a man slowly unraveling.

Ari Aster takes risks by fusing genres and radically shifting from sociopolitical satire to violent, chaotic thriller midway through - a choice that both energizes and fragments the story.

Even so, the combination of formal ambition, thematic relevance, and strong performances makes it a provocative, memorable work."

Rating: B