A24 released the first full trailer for Ari Aster’s Eddington on June 10, heightening anticipation for the pandemic-era Western ahead of its July 18 U.S. release.
The footage, shared across A24’s social channels and YouTube, quickly drew hundreds of thousands of views as fans dissected a sequence of Joaquin Phoenix’s sheriff unleashing gunfire down an empty main street.
Phoenix faces Pedro Pascal’s mayor in a small New Mexico town where COVID-19 mandates ignite a culture war—a plot Aster says he wrote while trapped in “a state of fear and anxiety about the world” during lockdown.
Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes and Deirdre O’Connell round out a cast that The Playlist calls the filmmaker’s “most star-studded ensemble.”
After premiering in competition at Cannes on May 16, the 145-minute film divided reviewers; The Guardian dismissed it as “bafflingly dull,” while Time labeled it a “wigged-out modern Western overstuffed with ideas.”
World of Reel highlighted a 65 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and described the reaction as “polarizing,” a view echoed by A24’s marketing that leans into the film’s risk-taking satire.
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Despite mixed notices, festival buzz has secured slots at the Sydney Film Festival on June 12 and Montreal’s Fantasia in July, extending the conversation through a crowded summer slate.
Cinematographer Darius Khondji’s sun-scorched vistas and a score by Daniel Pemberton and Bobby Krlic aim to evoke classic frontier epics while amplifying pandemic-era paranoia.
Box-office watchers quoted by FirstShowing suggest the Phoenix-Pascal pairing could deliver A24’s strongest summer opening since Hereditary, even with the film’s extended runtime.
Exhibitors report brisk early inquiries from arthouse and IMAX venues, betting that audiences are ready to reassess COVID-set stories as historical drama.
Analysts add that pandemic narratives now resonate with viewers seeking cultural distance without forgetting recent upheaval.
Whether moviegoers embrace its sharp satire or recoil from its provocations, Aster’s latest arrives positioned as one of the summer’s most debated gambles for the indie studio.
