Eddington

Set in the fictional town of Eddington, New Mexico, Ari Aster’s latest tracks the long-simmering feud between a neurotic right-wing sheriff named Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) and his seemingly progressive nemesis, mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). Following the solipsistic Beau Is Afraid, Aster challenges himself to another register, borrowing the conventions of the classical western to paint a satirical portrait of the early years of the Trump presidency, the COVID crisis and the social mediafuelled delirium that followed. Structured as an ever-escalating farce eviscerating societal divide, Eddington oscillates between pitch-black humour and absurdist violence for maximum discomfort, while staying true to Aster’s roots in capturing the horrors of the American psyche, here writ large across a nation both distracted and divided.

Cannes Film Festival: In Competition