A contemporary western, Eddington turns Aster’s usual preoccupations inside out, so that instead of focusing on the psychological travails of a single unravelling protagonist, the scope is widened to a cross-section of racially diverse inhabitants in a fictional small town (subbed in by New Mexico). By the end of a blood-soaked third act, it’s clear that Eddington is a microcosm of the state of America. Set in 2020, amid the pandemic and the wave of Black Lives Matter protests that erupted after the police murder of George Floyd, Eddington initially cleaves to Aster’s usual character template. We are plunged into the daily doings of Sheriff Joe Cross (Phoenix), an impulsive asthmatic who gets so mad about the state mandate requiring him to wear a mask that he decides to run for mayor against long-standing enemy Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). In parallel, Joe is losing his wife Louise (Emma Stone) to the web presence of budding cult leader Vernon Jefferson Peak (a sparingly used, scene-stealing Austin Butler). – Independent (UK)