‘Eddington’ Is the Political Western You Didn’t Know You Needed - Review

Set five years in the past, Eddington isn’t interested in subtlety—it’s bold, charged, and unapologetically political. Rather than focus on detailed backstories or emotional arcs, the film zeroes in on ideology. We learn more about the characters’ stances on COVID protocols, government mandates, and personal freedoms than we do about their histories or motivations. And somehow, that’s enough. In a world still reeling from the long-term effects of the pandemic, Eddington uses its western framework to dissect how fractured our perspectives became—and still are. Director Ari Aster leans into discomfort, making the absence of traditional character depth a statement in itself. The cast meets this challenge head-on, with Joaquin Phoenix delivering a nuanced performance as Joe Cross, a man who starts off as simply disgruntled and evolves into something far more dangerous. Pedro Pascal balances him out with quiet restraint as Ted Garcia, giving the film its emotional center, even as the plot spirals into darker territory. What begins as a political standoff subtly transforms into a moral reckoning, with echoes of Breaking Bad in its descent.