Ari Aster may have made a name for himself with lauded horror offerings like Hereditary and Midsommar but his latest film may be his most terrifying: a COVID pandemic-set dark comedy that doubles up as a counterfeit satire. And while that may seem like too much of a stretch for the filmmaker, Aster – for all his faults – may be the perfect candidate to express the bracing horror of a time whose reverberations are still felt five years on.
Set in the titular New Mexico town in May 2020, we meet Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix). He’s the town’s soft-spoken and asthmatic sheriff who’s got a lot on his mind.
