There's never been a movie quite like Eddington. This latest offering from the independent film studio A24 is ripped from the headlines of summer 2020, when the dual crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests slammed a very anxious America.
Eddington's first half adopts the disguise—a face mask, perhaps—of very recent historical fiction: Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) is a small-town New Mexico sheriff in a standoff with Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) over statewide coronavirus mandates. Cross is a right-wing guy living with his nutty mother-in-law and even nuttier wife, clearly influenced by their conspiracy theorizing.
