Ari Aster’s Eddington Opens in Brazil as a Modern Western of Pandemic-Era Fracture

Overview

• Following its Cannes premiere, Eddington begins theatrical release in Brazil on November 13 with Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone.
• Set in a New Mexico town, the story centers on a conservative sheriff and a mayor seeking re-election over a proposed data center with consequences for a nearby Indigenous community.
• Ari Aster describes the movie as a “western with cellphones instead of guns” and emphasizes character ambiguity rather than taking an ideological side.
• Plot threads include lockdown disputes, conspiracy theories spread in the sheriff’s home, local protests after George Floyd’s murder, and the sheriff’s entry into the mayoral race.
• O Globo’s review praises Phoenix’s performance and the thriller pacing but faults the political satire and says the final stretch loses focus.