A24 has unveiled the first trailer for Midsommar director Ari Aster’s star-studded Eddington – and it all feels worryingly relevant…
We’re not quite sure we’re ready for Ari Aster’s Eddington. The new project from the talented filmmaker who brought us Hereditary, Midsommar and Beau Is Afraid is being described as a ‘Western-noir dark ensemble comedy’. And as with all of his projects, it’s being backed by production company A24. However, that brief tagline didn’t prepare us for just how startlingly contemporary his new project feels.
Despite clocking in at just over a minute, there’s plenty here to make you squirm about the current state of America – and by extension, the world. The febrile nature of culture wars, the fragility of democracy, the threat of pandemics, global warming, conspiracy theorists, gun control, religious fanaticism and more are all tied up in one continuous doomscroll of a trailer.
Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, the perennially busy Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Michael Ward, and Clifton Collins Jr are just some of the names set to appear in Eddington. Unsurprisingly, the story sounds just as intriguing too. Look, here comes a synopsis:
‘Set during the pandemic, the story centers on a couple on a road trip through New Mexico to Los Angeles where they run out of gas outside of a small town named Eddington. They decide to enter the town for help, and are greeted warmly and treated nicely at first. But the picturesque setting soon turns dark and nightmarish when nightfall arrives.’
Aster’s last film, Beau is Afraid, really failed to connect with audiences theatrically, something the filmmaker talked about late last year. Covertly or overtly, horror plays a central role in all of Aster’s films, but this time it looks as though the horror could be an unvarnished look at the world we inhabit. Frankly, it could be the filmmaker’s scariest creation yet.
Eddington will release in cinemas in July. Here’s the trailer below.
