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‘Eddington’: Joaquin Phoenix Shines in Dark Pandemic Comedy

Despite a pose of satirical neutrality about America’s political divide during the pandemic, Aster’s quietly on the side of the young masked-up progressives.
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‘Eddington’: Joaquin Phoenix Shines in Dark Pandemic Comedy
Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix, L) and mayor Ted Garcia argue about mask-wearing in "Eddington." A24
Mark Jackson
Updated:
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R | 2h 28m | Drama, Comedy | 2025

The noir-ish comic Western “Eddington” is, in part, about an ideological standoff between two small-town community leaders. It’s set against the backdrop of the early pandemic days, when heretofore normal society found itself suddenly divided, and BLM protests swept a nation that had just been forced indoors and left to (and with, and on) their own devices.

Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson
Film Critic
Mark Jackson is the chief film critic for The Epoch Times. In addition to film, he enjoys martial arts, motorcycles, rock-climbing, qigong, and human rights activism. Jackson earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Williams College, followed by 20 years' experience as a New York professional actor. He narrated The Epoch Times audiobook "How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World," available on iTunes, Audible, and YouTube. Mark is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
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