Ari Aster's COVID-Era Western 'Eddington' Gets Mixed Reception at Cannes Premiere
- Ari Aster directed the darkly satirical western thriller Eddington, which premiered on May 16, 2025, at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
- Aster made Eddington to dramatize his foreboding about America’s polarized politics and fractured sense of reality amid the 2020 Covid pandemic and social unrest.
- Set in a small New Mexico town during 2020, the film follows Sheriff Joe Cross, played by Joaquin Phoenix, whose wife, portrayed by Emma Stone, becomes entangled with right-wing conspiracy theorists.
- The film received a standing ovation of five to nearly seven minutes at Cannes, with reports noting Phoenix tearing up during the screening.
- Eddington will release internationally in theaters on July 18, 2025, and its themes reflect ongoing divisions and mistrust in American society.
40 Articles
40 Articles


The buzziest films at Cannes so far — and one already causing arguments
Ari Aster’s political horror 'Eddington' is a love-hate affair that’s got people talking. 'Sirât,' 'The Plague' and others have garnered less qualified praise.
La Presse at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, America According to Ari Aster
Selected in competition for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival, Ari Aster brings with Eddington, a crunchy satire from Trompian America in times of pandemic. Two years after Beau is Afrid, the one to whom we owe Hereditary and Midsommar once again leads Joaquin Phoenix.
Joaquin Phoenix stars in COVID-era thriller set in 'sick' America
Joaquin Phoenix stars in the darkly satirical "Eddington" which premiered at the Cannes film festival on Friday, a biting take on America's culture wars set in a small New Mexico town. The film by fast-rising American director Ari Aster is an unsettling but often amusing western-style thriller set amid America's…
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