Why I disliked Eddington. Until I realized something - The Neon Hunter

Introduction

I am disappointed in Eddington. Did I think it was a good film? Yes. Did I think it was up to par with Ari Aster’s other work? No. So let’s discuss why.

Every other Ari Aster film is filled with satirical and horrifically relevant commentary on relationships, society and other interesting contemporary topics. Eddington is like the extreme version of that. Jammed with topics of racism, rioting, COVID policies, conspiracy theories, and big corporations taking control of people. However, they usually are thematically streamlined. It’s pretty clear what the themes and social commentary are throughout, and the films usually stick with those points and observations. I felt Eddington failed to do this, and tried to do too much in one film. Although I felt the same way about Beau is Afraid, it felt more fitting in that film as the protagonist suffers with all sorts of mental illnesses, and it still kept (mostly, giant penis monster aside) within those points.

Lack of Thematic Focus

Throughout the film we have discussions of COVID policies, with the film's central protagonist, Sheriff Joe Cross, being more on the politically right side, wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Pedro Pascal’s Ted Garcia, the city's mayor. He pretends that he cares about the policies he constantly says are important, but breaks them. For a lot of the first and second act of the film, the film seemed to be an exploration of all of those themes and somewhat current affairs, offering a dramatic Ari Aster climax that ties it all together, hitting us with a harsh truth in the final few minutes of the film. However, this film takes a completely different turn. Quickly, Sheriff Joe Cross is being hunted by an unknown militia, who are hinted at being ANTIFA. The film turns into an action film, which I had no problem with, but ultimately ends in Joe killing a few of them and becoming paralyzed as a result of fighting one of them. A lost soul, unsure of who he is and following left wing ideologies for recognition and wanting to be a part of a cause, shoots the man that paralyzed Joe, and becomes a right wing “podcast bro”. Then, it’s revealed that the data centre that was to be built in the city that Joe and his mother-in-law were skeptical and weary of are paying his and her bills, taking care of the paralyzed Joe.

As you can probably tell, I thought this was a bit too off the beaten path. Not only is it unclear whether it’s ANTIFA that paralyzed and went after Joe, which muddies the water for the commentary about companies ultimately having power over people as opposed to political ideologies and the government, there’s no setup for it. Never is it clear that they will later be a threat Joe has to deal with, or something other than a small subplot or world building. They simply show up, get the job done, and that’s it.

The same goes for the data centre and the company that runs it. There's a logo on the plane of a hand holding the world, as if to signify that some sort of higher power, like the government or some kind of company that owns substantial assets and can do what they want to people while not having any consequences. After doing some research, I came upon another theory too, which is that it is the international credit union behind this. If you look up what a hand on a globe symbol signifies, the international credit union comes up. They own tens of thousands of credit unions and operate in more than a hundred countries, so maybe they are responsible for this, as they could have some kind of investment in the Solidgoldmagikarp company. In the world of the film though, of course. It could also signify people who own the banks and have trillions of dollars too, and may not be a direct reference, which I’m honestly unsure if it is. Given the symbol isn’t exactly the same and the hand is holding the earth as if to cover it, as opposed to the international credit union’s symbol cupping the world as if to gently hold it, I would probably guess that it’s more likely to be the latter theory. But who knows. Another thing that I initially miss, that’s staring us right in the face, is that they’re in a private jet. What kind of small group of rebels owns or can rent a private jet, or at least one as fancy as this, at the drop of a hat? Well, none. So this could support that theory, or highlight that BLM has been spending money on trivial things like that, as they did in real life, when they bought a 6 million dollar home with donation money, and used 840,000 dollars of the group's money also in 2022. The only problem with that is that those incidents happened in 2022, and Ari Aster started writing Eddington during the time it’s set, April 2020. Another that solidifies this theory is how lasse-fare and apathetic they are on the plane. Yes, they have signs about their cause, but they don’t seem to be hyped up or really like they are too interested in the cause, otherwise, why aren’t they discussing it and amping each other up? Even the young adults in Eddington have more energy than them. I also find it interesting that what each of the militia men are doing seems to be completely unrelated directly to BLM, in fact–the opposite. The first man we see is doing pushups, as if to just get ready for some sort of fight and to be fit for said fight. The second is loading his gun non-chalantly, and the third is chilling out, smoking. They’re all doing apathetic actions that don’t correlate to being anti-establishment and excited to take down a public official who called them out, and in their eyes is probably a racist, terrible person. Another few things that solidify that these are just general militia is this–the second man has a book, presumably the constitution, which is open to a page that reads “the fourth amendment”. Now, why would someone who is going somewhere to kill a public official with no secrecy, out in the open, need to know the intricacies of the fourth amendment, an amendment that allows citizens not to be searched, unless it’s an emergency situation or the evidence is in plain sight. Firstly, it’s clear that the evidence WOULD be in plain sight

What is certain though, is that not only is Solidgoldmagikarp never hinted at having any ties to any sort of militia, particularly ANTIFA, (which a lot of the evidence points at the militia who tried to kill Joe being). So that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Also, the scene right after Joe announces that he believes ANTIFA is behind the murders, we see the plane. So, it could simply be ANTIFA doing it as a response to these allegations, and since they hate law enforcement, it’s easy for them to justify the attack on Joe.

It’s lacking what I believe is called Thematic Unity. A narrative method where most if not all of the characters, their motivations, the plot and the actions of the characters are all centred around the themes of the film.

Analyses

I have some analysis I want to share about the film, or my interpretation of some events, characters and plot points.

I believe the homeless man represents either the ultimate anarchist, the political middle, or how far we can go when we become obsessed and fixate on conspiracy theories. Not that conspiracy theories are inherently bad, apart from the obvious ones that are harmful to certain groups of people, or offer nonsensical ideas that can harm our fact checking logic,, but it can corrupt you if you become obsessed with them and can’t trust anyone or anything.

He could also represent hate, or the hateful essence that can be on both sides of the political spectrum for one another, as he is always yelling and screaming, and just before he is killed by Joe, speaks of killing people with poison. Joe killing him too could also be him killing his hate, or perhaps even replacing the homeless man as the representation of hate and violence, as he ends up going on a bit of a killing spree soon after.

I also believe that Joe falling on and crushing the Native American man’s skeleton could signify how he’s the kind of person that in history would have oppressed the Native Americans and would have colonized them, stealing their land and stomping all over their history. It could also be a comment on how this k

Another theory for the meaning of the film is that it’s truly about how

A Great but Flawed Film…

Having said that, I really enjoyed the film. Ari Aster did an amazing job directing, and for the most part, writing the film. I also loved how different the setting was to his other films, as I thought it brought a totally different vibe and atmosphere that was definitely welcome, feeling fresh, new and unique. The score, editing, acting and everything else was also amazing as it always is with Ari Aster’s work.

…or is it?

However, this is how I felt before rewatching the film and writing this video. When I did, I finally unlocked the truth at the heart of this film and I realized it actually is very thematically focused, which I realized when writing this review and watching the film for a second time.

It’s about how people use politics as an instrument to get what they want.

Brian Frazee uses it to get with Sarah, even though at the end of the film he is on the opposite side of the political spectrum, which proves he was just using it.

The data centre and Solidgoldmagikarp use ANTIFA as a scapegoat to try to murder Joe Cross, the man that made it so difficult for them to build the data centre there, and would later make it impossible as mayor.

Joe Cross uses it to accuse Sarah of murdering Ted and Eric Garcia.

Sarah uses it to try to feel like she’s a good person and to abolish the guilt she feels about being white.

Eric uses it to get with Sarah, even though he doesn’t give a shit, and taunts Brian, who believes in those political messages at that moment.

Not only that, I believe it is also ultimately about how these kinds of people ultimately get punished. Ted and Eric both used it to get their own personal gains–money from Solidgoldmagikarp for Ted, and a relationship with Sarah for Eric. Therefore, they’re punished, although it’s with a swift death.

Joe was not afforded the same fate, as he did the ultimate wrong thing when wielding this power of political terrorism and actions–he framed someone for murder, and used COVID as a political device to put political sides against each other, which ironically, in a sense of poetic justice, COVID is the thing that made it easier for the Solidgoldmagikarp soldiers to kill him.

Back to him framing someone for murder using political ideologies to shield himself from being accused. He didn’t just do that, he framed a young girl. She would have gone to prison for perhaps the rest of her life which is an evil act just for Joe to murder two people for no reason. So, he gets possibly the worst kind of punishment–he’s paralyzed and brain dead and has to watch as the ultimate masters of using politics to get what they want AND get away with it, corporate entities. He was beaten at his own game. It’s also an indictment about how if you use politics only to get what you want, you will ultimately have no control at all, being taken care of by people that mistreat you and the very ones that put you in that state to begin with–because ultimately, as is apparent with Louise’s mother too, we all end up working for them and doing as they say anyway.

I also believe him making mask-wearing a political subject to win him votes and get right wing people to be on his side more, to then have COVID be the thing that made it easier for the Solidgoldmagikarp soldiers to kill him is the final ironic touch that seals his horrible fate.

However, you might be asking–why do Michael and Officer Butterfly get punished? They did nothing wrong. In fact, he’s one of the only morally good characters in the entire film. My only thesis on this is that, because he did nothing and was unfazed during the George Floyd incident and after the riot, not taking Sarah’s side and protesting, he still must be punished.

And why didn’t Vernon Peak get punished? Well, once again, it’s about if people are using politics to manipulate others, especially when they don’t believe in those political ideologies, and get something personally from them. However, I don’t think Vernon is using politics quite as much as the other characters to get what he wants, and does believe everything he is saying. He may be manipulating Louise, but I’m not sure about that. The guy seems to genuinely believe everything he is talking about, since he had some trauma (which may or may not be embellished, or some kind of false memory that he’s invented to better justify his beliefs) that caused him to think this way.

So yeah, it’s been quite a ride with this film. However, I want to talk about some other things that I really liked about this film.

Something that also stuck out to me was the foley. This is something that is more difficult to notice when you’re in the cinema, but upon digital release it’s more clear. The precise, crisp foley adds another layer of realism and character to the film, which makes the more grandiose moments personal. It also elevates those quiet, introspective scenes.

The transitions and use of sound design, cinematography and editing for each were also incredibly unique, even against any of Ari Aster’s work. The blackness engulfing the screen when dollying towards the militia member’s mask transforming into a zoom out from the black BLM square on Instagram was amazing, and the spray paint used as a replacement for the car driving past us was incredible. It’s clear that Ari Aster can make even the most boring scenes interesting, not only with his satirical commentary with his characters, his incredible use of tension, but also with small things like these transitions.

This film also did something that many films fail to do–it was politically subjective. It never felt like it was shoving a message or political opinion down your opinion, and felt more like a holistic look at how ridiculous everyone is, on both sides of the political spectrum. That is something that rarely is captured and few have the wisdom and insight to achieve in their work, and it’s a needed perspective and experience for everyone, as it gives us a look into both worlds.