Making his Cannes Film Festival Competition debut, Ari Aster unveiled Eddington this evening, with the psychological western lassoing a nearly seven-minute ovation that included scattered clapping during the credits.
Star Joaquin Phoenix was tearing up as the applause continued.
“I don’t know what you think,” a beaming Aster joked to the crowd, drawing laughs. “Thank you for being here. I feel very privileged to be here. It’s a dream come true. Thank you so much for having me. And, I don’t know — sorry? I don’t know.”
He added: “This was a great experience. I love all these people around me.”
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The thriller/black comedy is set in May 2020 and stars Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Clifton Collins Jr. and Amélie Hoeferle.
Phoenix plays small-town Sheriff Joe Cross in the eponymous New Mexico town, where he challenges Mayor Ted Garcia (Pascal) as the Covid pandemic is creating high tension. There’s a backdrop of fake news and collective anxiety.
In his review, Deadline’s Damon Wise wrote, “Though all its parts don’t quite knit together, Eddington is what you might call a big swing, a film that’s more serious than it first seems, seeing Covid as the Big Bang that landed us right where we are now.”
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Aster directed and produces Eddington alongside Lars Knudsen under their Square Peg Banner. This marks Aster’s fourth feature after the widely acclaimed Hereditary, Midsommar and Beau is Afraid.
Eddington is financed and produced by A24. It releases the film domestically on July 18.
