Eddington

“As a white person, I know I need to sit down and listen. Which I am planning on doing right after I make this speech” Film of the year for me so far I think. It definitely feels messy and disjointed at times, but the backdrop of 2020 is really just that: a backdrop. It uses the unease, unrest, and general insanity of that very specific point in time to guide its story, and then once the story has legs it becomes its own thing.  The one constant is the nonstop satirization of the white savior, especially as it pertains to the Black Lives Matter movement and the turbulent protests that took place in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor. Aster is incessantly making fun of the desire of white people to engage in purely performative stunts to appear woke while doing nothing beneficial, and oftentimes being detrimental just for the sake of having attention. The other main motif that’s glaringly obvious is how Aster views, broadly, the internet. This isn’t a novel concept by any means, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it executed so well for the modern age. We have more information at our fingertips in a moment’s notice than our ancestors even just 50 years ago had their entire lives. There’s an obvious, almost paradox, that despite this awesome power of infinite knowledge, we’re seemingly dumber than ever. Absurd conspiracy theories run rampant, and it’s fertile ground for cults and other nonsense. Aster certainly isn’t condoning or agreeing with these actions, but the way it’s presented, it seems as though he’s saying it’s almost an inevitable result of a society becoming increasingly distant and hostile to and from our neighbors, and Covid just magnified this immensely. Speaking of the nut jobs, Emma Stone is grossly underused; it reminds me of late 90s/early 00s movies where directors hadn’t yet figured out that Philip Seymour-Hoffman was the greatest actor ever so he would just show up in a couple scenes in a minor role. But Emma Stone doesn’t occupy that position, she’s wildly considered one of the greatest actors of her generation. It felt like a disservice to have her essentially leave the film after an hour and barely be present when she is there. Those expecting Austin Butler can just watch the trailer, as his appearances in the trailer constitute all his screen time. I loved seeing Deirdre O’Connell in such a prominent role—she was such a standout in Synecdoche New York in her limited scenes, but she manages to steal the scene from the aforementioned Hoffman in the finale. I’ve always wondered why she hasn’t gotten more work, and hopefully this serves as a springboard to bigger and better stuff because she is fully deserving. The last hour-ish of the film kinda turned into No Country for Old Men, but it largely worked for me. In typical Ari Aster fashion, things go off the rails in the finale 30 minutes, and I could see why it would turn people off but I liked it. The end was very bizarre, and it felt like an almost Black Mirror-esque eternal punishment for Joe of having to sleep next to his mother-in-law and her lover, physically unable to do anything about it. All-in-all I loved this movie, and regardless of its contemporary reception, I think ten, twenty, years down the road this will be hailed as a classic and the quintessential movie of the 2020s