Eddington is Rated R by Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for strong violence, some grisly images, language, and graphic nudity.
Eddington Review
“Eddington” is the kind of movie that dares to say what many of us whispered in group chats during 2020: “Are we all losing our minds, or is the world actually melting down?” Spoiler alert: both were true. And Ari Aster, never one to shy away from uncomfortable truths, turns that anxiety into a darkly hilarious political horror show.
The Movie Story
At the center of the chaos is Sheriff Joe Cross (played by a truly deranged, totally committed Joaquin Phoenix), a man who’s just trying to do his job—or at least his idea of it—in a town where every citizen seems seconds away from imploding. Joe has asthma, which he claims makes it hard to wear a mask, so naturally, his solution is to run for mayor with the unintentionally hilarious campaign slogan: “Joe Cross for air. Joe Cross for mayor.” This isn’t satire. This is reality, exaggerated just enough to feel like a fever dream.
The movie kicks off during the early pandemic lockdowns, when social media was buzzing with conspiracy theories, self-righteous rants, and toilet paper hoarding. People in Eddington are glued to their phones, doomscrolling themselves into a frenzy. The film brilliantly captures that time capsule of panic and paranoia—TikTok dances next to death toll charts, Instagram infographics sandwiched between sourdough starter tips and protest livestreams.
And then, like a slap to the face, George Floyd is murdered. That moment—and the ripple effect of protests across the country—reverberates through Eddington with raw intensity. Ari Aster doesn’t shy away from the gravity of it, but he filters it through his own brand of surreal, hyperreal storytelling. Peaceful protests swell into chaos. Teens show up with signs and hashtags—but also with cameras, ready to go viral. Some characters are fueled by righteous anger. Others are clearly just there for clout. It’s messy. It’s complicated. It’s real.
That’s when the film becomes something more than just a pandemic time capsule. It becomes a full-blown satire of modern America’s dysfunctions—all crammed into one boiling desert town.
Joaquin Phoenix Is the Movie’s Mad Heart
Phoenix’s Sheriff Joe is at once pathetic, terrifying, and completely fascinating. He’s a man in freefall—clinging to control as the world flips upside down around him. And Phoenix sells every ounce of it. His performance doesn’t ask for sympathy, but you can’t look away. One moment he’s barking orders at his deputies; the next, he’s bursting into the station with whiteboard markers, scrawling out ridiculous campaign strategies like a political maniac. He’s a walking meme, a tragic clown, and somehow also the most grounded character in the movie.
He’s joined by a wildly talented cast—Emma Stone as his increasingly disillusioned wife, Louise, and Pedro Pascal as the town’s liberal incumbent mayor, Ted Garcia. But here’s the thing: both are oddly underused. You expect their characters to be major players, especially with the scandal Joe ignites involving Louise and Ted. Instead, they mostly orbit Joe’s unraveling reality.
Meanwhile, Austin Butler makes an appearance as a conspiracy-theory-believing doomsday prepper named Vernon Jefferson Peak, who is essentially a cult leader in cargo pants living in the desert. He is interesting, and he looks it, but once more, the script does not allow him the space to completely unravel. The real star of the film is, in fact, Micheal Ward, who plays trainee deputy Michael Cooke. He is one of the few characters who are not played as comic relief or caricature.
We see, through the lens of Cooke, what it is like to be a young, Black law enforcement officer attempting to do good in a time when the very concept of policing is under national scrutiny. His silent tension is in stark contrast to the absurdity that surrounds him.
Highly Recommended: F1 (2025) Parents Guide
A Movie That Tries to Say Everything—And Kind Of Does
Let’s get this out of the way: Eddington is a lot. It tackles nearly every cultural earthquake of the COVID era—masks, protests, online outrage, cancel culture, Antifa paranoia, performative activism, political conspiracy, toxic masculinity—and it does so in a tight two-and-a-half-hour firestorm. Some viewers will find that overwhelming. Others will find it cathartic. Personally? I admired the hell out of it, even when it got messy.
Does the film dig deep into every issue it raises? No. In fact, that’s its most frequent criticism. Aster throws a dozen hot-button topics at the wall, but few get a fully fleshed-out arc. It’s more like a scattershot of satire—blunt-force commentary, with no clear resolution. But maybe that’s intentional. Maybe Aster is saying: There was no clarity. There was no resolution. It was just chaos. And we lived through it anyway.
What makes it work is that the comedy—while dark—is often genuinely funny. There’s a sequence involving an influencer doing protest selfies while looting a Walgreens that might make you choke-laugh. There are viral memes, passive-aggressive Zoom calls, and moments of surreal absurdity that hit a little too close to home. If you survived 2020 with your sanity (mostly) intact, you’ll find plenty of painfully recognizable moments here.
Visually Raw but Occasionally Brilliant
Cinematographer Darius Khondji steps in for Aster’s longtime collaborator Pawel Pogorzelski, and the difference is noticeable. Eddington lacks the striking visual flourishes of Midsommar’s sun-drenched madness or Hereditary’s oppressive gloom. The look is more grounded—grainy, sometimes even handheld—matching the film’s raw energy. But when the camera does show off, it shows off big: a slow pan as Joe nervously searches his property for an unseen attacker is one of the most tense sequences Aster has ever shot. No music. Just wind. Paranoia. And silence.
Eddington (2025) Parents Guide
Language: Expect plenty of F-bombs, some politically charged slurs and insults, and offhand remarks that are meant to sting (and sometimes make you laugh uncomfortably). It’s not just background noise—language is part of the satire here.
Violence & Dark Moments: You won’t get slasher-level gore, but the violence hits hard when it happens. There are riot scenes, protest clashes, and one genuinely tense moment where Joaquin Phoenix’s character is stalked at night—shot in a way that’ll have you holding your breath. It’s not graphic, but it is intense.
Also, the movie doesn’t shy away from showing the chaos and fear of 2020—some of which still feels a little too fresh. So if your teen is anxious about that time, this might not be the best rewatch of the trauma.
Sexual Content: There’s no nudity, no sex scenes, but the movie does include a very controversial plotline: the sheriff posts a video accusing his political rival of abusing his wife—without her consent and without evidence. It’s meant to skewer political mudslinging and online “cancel culture,” but the moment is… uncomfortable. It’s satire, yes—but messy satire.
So while there’s no explicit content, there are mature, tricky themes about consent, power, and manipulation that aren’t exactly easy to unpack.
So… Should You Let Your Teen Watch It? Not recommended for teens who still think satire means TikTok parodies.Recommended for adults who want to dissect the madness of modern America.
Final Thoughts:
There’s no question Eddington will be polarizing. It’s too raw, too chaotic, and too painfully honest for some viewers. It jabs at real trauma with comedy that might feel insensitive, and it doesn’t always land. But I’d argue that’s the point.
Aster’s not trying to be tasteful—he’s trying to reflect the absurdity of a world where taste and logic broke down completely. And in that, Eddington is one of the few pandemic films that feels honest. Not comforting, not neatly packaged, but honest.
It’s Network for the TikTok generation. Dr. Strangelove for the cancel culture era.
Release Date: July 18, 2025.
Directed by Ari Aster.
Written by Ari Aster.
Main Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, and Luke Grimes
Production Companies: A24 & Square Peg.
Distributor: A24.
