The Full Trailer for Ari Aster's 'Eddington' Is Filled with 2020's Nightmares — and Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal Facing Off
After 'Hereditary', 'Midsommar' and 'Beau Is Afraid', Ari Aster is still cultivating unease — this time in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Empty streets. Long lines of cars at COVID-19 testing sites. Six-foot buffers between people. Doomscrolling. Rampant online misinformation about the pandemic. Five years ago, these were all a reality — and that's when Ari Aster has set his fourth feature. Eddington is also the acclaimed writer/director's fourth film in seven years, following Hereditary in 2018, Midsommar in 2019 and Beau Is Afraid in 2023.
Two years after stressing out Joaquin Phoenix in the latter flick, the filmmaker has more tension and chaos in store for the Oscar-winning actor, all in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eddington ventures into a New Mexico town of the same name, and into the locale's attempts to cope with the abrupt change to life as its citizens know it. Phoenix (Joker: Folie à Deux) portrays the spot's sheriff Joe Cross, who decides to run for mayor against incumbent Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us).
Both the first teaser trailer earlier in 2025 and the just-dropped full sneak peek at the A24 release — which premiered at Cannes in May — paints an unsettling picture, not just for the feuding Joe and Ted, but also for Joe's wife Louise (Emma Stone, Kinds of Kindness). Offering a calmer vibe is Vernon Jefferson Peak (Austin Butler, The Bikeriders), whether he's meeting Joe or popping up preaching on the internet.
The storyline: putting Joe and the mayor on a collision course that leads to arguments and slaps in the new trailer. Their conflict unsurprisingly causes ripples throughout Eddington, in a tale that's set to see townsfolk clash in a period that we all know couldn't have been more heightened and stressful.
Aster is back cultivating unease, then, as he did so expertly in his initial three features. Alongside Phoenix, Butler, Stone and Pascal, the filmmaker has enlisted Luke Grimes (Yellowstone), Deirdre O'Connell (The Penguin) and Micheal Ward (Empire of Light) to help among his cast.
Eddington releases Down Under on Thursday, August 21, 2025. If you're in Sydney or heading to the Harbour City for the 2025 Sydney Film Festival, it's also screening there until Sunday, June 15, as well as at the fest's SFF 2025 Back By Popular Demand sessions until Friday, June 20.
Check out the full trailer for Eddington below:
Eddington releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, August 21, 2025 — and is also screening at the 2025 Sydney Film Festival until Sunday, June 15, and at its SFF 2025 Back By Popular Demand sessions until Friday, June 20.
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