The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025, and was released in theaters by A24 on July 18, 2025.[6] The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $12.7 million worldwide.
Plot
In late May 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Ted Garcia of Eddington, New Mexico, implements a lockdown and enforces mask mandates based on the Governor's orders at the state level. Local sheriff Joe Cross disapproves, arguing the mandates violate freedom of choice. Joe lives with his emotionally unstable wife, Louise, and her conspiracy-theorist mother, Dawn.
After confrontations with Ted, who is running for re-election with a tech-friendly campaign that would allow building a data center, Joe decides to run against him, much to the reclusive Louise's disapproval. He recruits officers Guy and Michael as campaign aides. Louise and Dawn invite radical cult leader Vernon Jefferson Peak for dinner, and during a discussion about their conspiratorial beliefs about pedophilia and child trafficking, Louise hints that her father abused her. Joe expresses disbelief in Vernon’s professed backstory, which is based on recovered memories.
Meanwhile, Ted's son Eric gets involved in Black Lives Matter protests with his friend Brian and social justice-minded Sarah. Sarah unsuccessfully tries to persuade officer Michael to join their cause. To sway the election in his favor, Joe claims during a campaign event that Ted sexually assaulted Louise. She leaves town with Vernon after denying the allegations in an online video.
The next day, Joe confronts Ted under the pretext of a noise complaint at his residence during a fundraiser. Ted slaps Joe in front of campaign fundraiser guests. That evening, in a fugue state, Joe shoots a vagrant dead and dumps his body in a nearby river. He next shoots Ted and Eric in their home with a sniper rifle and stages the scene as an Antifa attack. Meanwhile, a mysterious private jet carrying heavily armed terrorists heads toward Eddington. Officer Butterfly Jimenez of the Pueblo tribe gets involved in the investigation of deaths since Joe shot his rifle on Pueblo land. Joe frames officer Michael as the killer and jails him to divert attention, but Butterfly makes connections pointing to the sheriff.
Eddington is attacked by the terrorists, who kidnap Michael and set several fires. Joe and Guy find Michael in the desert, where he tries to warn them not to get close. An explosive detonates when the officers approach, killing Guy and severely wounding Michael. Joe heads back to Eddington, where he is targeted by snipers. After evading them in the desert and his home, he breaks into a gun store to arm himself. He fires his weapons haphazardly, accidentally shooting Butterfly's leg off before one of the snipers kills him. Joe is eventually cornered and stabbed in the head by a terrorist, causing significant brain damage. He is saved by Brian, who guns down Joe’s attacker while filming on his phone.
One year later, Brian has become a prominent conservative influencer, having capitalized on his filmed rescue of Joe from the terrorists. Joe was elected as the Mayor of Eddington, but has become paralyzed as a result of his attack. Dawn serves as his caregiver and frequently speaks on Joe's behalf during public appearances. After returning from the grand opening of the newly constructed data center, Joe and Dawn watch news coverage of Vernon and a pregnant Louise at a rally. Michael, who also survived and is now undersheriff, practices target shooting on the outskirts of town.
Cast
Joaquin Phoenix as Joe Cross, Eddington's sheriff and a mayoral candidate
Pedro Pascal as Ted Garcia, Eddington's incumbent mayor who is running for re-election
Ari Aster wrote a script for a contemporary Western film that he had at one point considered making as his directorial debut. He tried to make it for about five years before deciding to make Hereditary and Midsommar first.[7] While promoting his third film, Beau Is Afraid, Aster indicated that his next film would likely be a Western and that he had updated it to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic.[8][9]
Filming took place from March through May 2024 in Albuquerque and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.[15][16] The water tower with the mural that is shown toward the beginning of the film is the Las Cruces Water Tank.
On April 9, 2025, it was announced that Bobby Krlic would compose the film's score, after previously collaborating with Aster on Midsommar and Beau Is Afraid.[17] On May 7, it was announced that Daniel Pemberton would also be composing the film's score alongside Krlic.[18]
In the United States and Canada, Eddington was released alongside Smurfs and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and was projected to gross $3–5 million from 2,111 theaters in its opening weekend.[25][26] The film debuted to $4.3 million and opened in sixth place at the domestic box office.[27] In its second weekend the film made $1.6 million, dropping to eighth place.[28]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 70% of 256 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "Eddington carries a stellar cast, fearless direction by Ari Aster and an off-kilter story, but its tonal misdirection will often leave viewers wanting."Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[30]
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying that the film was "not just about the divisiveness of 2020; it’s designed to be divisive itself in 2025. To that end, even if you hate it, it’s kind of done its job."[31] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film an A-, praising the film for "vividly" and "uncomfortably" capturing "the day-to-day extent to which our digital future has stripped people of their ability to self-identify their own truths."[32]Justin Chang of The New Yorker wrote that the movie was "a slog, but with ambitions", and criticized the satire and characters, writing that Aster "barely finds them interesting enough to judge, and his boredom proves infectious."[33]
In June 2025, IndieWire ranked the film at number 74 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)."[34]
In contrast to some of the harsher critiques, Owen Gleiberman of Variety praised the film’s audacity and genre fusion, calling it “a brazenly provocative Western thriller” and highlighting Phoenix’s performance as “among his most layered since Joker.”[35]
Several critics have noted that Eddington uses the Western genre to explore contemporary American political divisions, conspiracy theories, and pandemic-era paranoia. David Ehrlich of IndieWire described it as "a bleak and brilliant look at post-COVID America."
Future
Aster has stated that a sequel to Eddington is currently in development.[37]
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