The year is 2020, and America, along with the rest of the world, is facing the COVID-19 crisis. In a small, rural town in New Mexico, a heated mayoral election between sitting Mayor Ted Garcia and police sheriff Joe Cross has sparked an eruptive rivalry amid the chaos. This is the premise of writer/director Ari Aster’s fourth feature film, Eddington. Aster, with A24, is most known for his horrifying and eclectic visuals and themes seen in previous projects, Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau is Afraid. Now, he’s shifted gears to present to the world what is being called “the first truly modern Western”. Starring Pedro Pascal, Luke Grimes, Deidre O’Connell, Michael Ward, Austin Butler, Emma Stone, and Beau star Joaquin Phoenix, the film is shaping up to be the filmmaker’s most star-studded, though grounded, project yet.
The official trailer, released Tuesday, shows footage of the film’s principal characters. Pascal plays Mayor Garcia, while Phoenix appears as Sheriff Cross, with Emma Stone as Cross’s homely wife. Clips shown in the two-minute trailer show images that are all too familiar in a post-COVID America. Violent riots, social broadcasting, and spiritual upheaval all run rampant, while the rivalry between law enforcement and political power plays against it all, as Pascal and Phoenix argue as to who’s responsible for keeping the streets in the titular town of Eddington safe. Although fans of Aster’s previous works should know, what is shown at the surface will merely be a placemat atop of rich thematic metaphor and thought-provoking, divisive storytelling.
Eddington releases in theaters July 18. Watch the official trailer below.
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