When first taking a look at the eerily quiet streets of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, it’s hard not to feel like you’re back in the earliest days of the 2020 lockdown. The isolation, emptiness, and uncertainty are all things that writer-director Ari Aster’s latest film, Eddington (2025), thrives upon. The filmmaker has never shied away from telling stories that prey on the social and personal anxieties of its viewers, with Hereditary (2018), Midsommar (2018), and Beau is Afraid (2023) utilizing them to their fullest extent. It’s no wonder that Aster wanted to shoot his latest project in the unique town of Truth or Consequences.
Eddington is a self-described modern Western and dark comedy that features an all-star cast, including Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler, who populate the quaint fictional town of Eddington, New Mexico. When DiscussingFilm went out to T or C, NM, to visit the various locales and sets built for the movie, Ari Aster was sure to tell us in an exclusive interview that there wasn’t any other place he visited that had the same feel as this small city. The director says that “it was one of the first places” he and the production designer, Elliott Hostetter, had scouted.
Truth or Consequences was the Only Option for Eddington
Despite traveling all over New Mexico, Truth or Consequences would be Ari Aster’s choice of location for production. “We couldn’t get Truth or Consequences out of our minds. It was clear to us. It has to be [this town]. It has so much character. There’s something ineffable here as well. Everything from the water tower, which is present no matter where you are, and is constantly reminding you of where you are in the town. There’s just no place like Truth or Consequences,” states the filmmaker. When walking around the town and seeing its vast empty spaces that are ripe for a Western standoff, it’s hard to disagree.
It’s a rare occurrence to experience a film as timely and poignant as Eddington, and then be immediately thrust into the environment in which it was shot. Being from the border town of El Paso, Texas, the short two-hour drive to Truth or Consequences didn’t at first feel like anything of consequence (pun intended). However, upon stepping into the quiet area, filled with local shops and cleverly placed campaign signs (courtesy of indie distributor A24) for Phoenix and Pascal’s respective fictional characters, Sheriff Joe Cross and Mayor Ted Garcia, it’s easy to understand how the vast location helped Aster shape his first Western movie.
Eddington is Ari Aster’s Visceral Deconstruction of the American Dream
The filmmaker has made a name for himself in the horror genre, so this shift to the Western was unexpected and exciting. “It’s a fascinating genre to me,” he explains as we both sat in Mayor Ted Garcia’s Bar, an actual functioning establishment built solely for the production of Eddington. Several key (and sometimes violent) scenes take place in this bar, evoking the atmosphere of a present-day saloon. “It is sort of the national genre, you know? It feels like a genre that is deeply concerned with the dream of American… about the building of America… while also contending with the reality of America.”
It’s hard to think of an election year (or any year in general) that has been as divisive, argumentative, and toxic as today’s political climate. The reality of America has never been more grim, and Ari Aster’s Eddington is the perfect look back at 2020, a pivotal year that now feels like a powder keg that set off the events leading to our current situation. Eddington captures that moment in time, still largely considered a fresh wound, as Aster creates a Western that is very much reflective of our modern-day vices, struggles, and woes.
Despite Being a Western, Eddington Still Has Traces of Ari Aster’s Horror Roots
Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe Cross, a Sheriff weary of following COVID-19 social distancing protocols. In contrast, Pedro Pascal plays the N95 mask-wearing Ted Garcia, the Mayor of Eddington, who is currently up for re-election, basing his campaign on safety, distancing, and a “tech-positive” future. It’s when these two ideals clash under the tension of lockdown and growing outside societal woes (including the increasing relevance of the Black Lives Matter movement that had reached a boiling point with the unjust murder of George Floyd) that this story reaches a blood-soaked conclusion. It’s a tale and setting that are as quintessentially Western as they come, with iconography and visual aesthetics reminiscent of some of the genre’s most classic works.
“I wanted to make a western that functioned as a western, while also being influenced by modern realism,” Aster says. By utilizing the small-scale Truth or Consequences production location to its fullest potential, Eddington takes on a life of its own. “In that spirit, these characters are all living in this very small town. They are neighbors. At the same time, they’re living on the internet, in different realities.” It’s in this disconnect that Aster believes he leans into his horror roots, as the director explains to us that both genres “are on top of each other, they are unreachable to each other — maybe that’s where [Eddington] starts to bleed into something near a horror film.”
Ruminating on the Horrific Unknown Frontiers of America’s Future
So, for fans of Ari Aster’s work in horror, worry not — there are still plenty of gory remnants felt in Eddington. The slow-burning nature of movies like Midsommar and Hereditary is prevalent in his latest film, though it fully takes advantage of its Western narrative structure as well. “The Western felt like the right framework to tell the story, because it feels like we’re living through the collapse of something right now, and we’re also on the cusp of something,” Aster mentions to me towards the end of our time at Truth or Consequences. Eddington thrives in the mystery and uncertainty of the next chapter in our sociopolitical climate, and even the filmmaker isn’t sure what it holds.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of Big Tech are just two unsettling topics addressed in Eddington, albeit not overtly. There are plenty of ominous signs and warnings with the “Solidgoldmagikarp” at the center of it all, though no full explanation of what they are exactly. Aster touches upon this topic to the best of his abilities, saying:
“We are kind of standing at the edge of a new frontier. I don’t know if that’s too heady a response. I try not to overthink these things. [My filmmaking process] is sort of intuitive. I started writing this during the summer of 2020, and I felt something in the air that I hadn’t felt before… I remember feeling like, ‘I want to capture whatever this is. Whatever I’m feeling here.’ From there, you start figuring out how to start telling that story.”
Ari Aster Wants You to Keep Your Eyes on the Screen(s) in Eddington
With Eddington finally available on digital and VOD, hardcore movie fans, especially those familiar with this director’s work, may want to look out for specific visual cues. My conversation with the filmmaker couldn’t end without finding out what to look out for in repeated viewings. While unsure (and silent for quite some time), Ari Aster eventually relented:
“I would say for me, what was very important in this film, was to foreground the screens. Usually, in contemporary films, they’re there, but they sort of blend in. However, I didn’t want them to blend in. I really tried to have those phones and TVs be not only kind of pervasive and ever-present, but almost make you sick with them. To have them be like a menace.”
Eddington is now available on VOD!
Release Date: July 18, 2025.
Directed by Ari Aster.
Written by Ari Aster.
Produced by Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, & Ann Ruark.
Executive Producers: Timo Argillander, Alejandro De Leon, Robert Dean, Harrison Huffman, Todd Lundbohm, & Andrea Scarso.
Main Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, Cameron Mann, Matt Gomez Hidaka, Amélie Hoeferle, Landall Goolsby, Elise Falanga, & Robert Mark Wallace.
Cinematographer: Darius Khondji.
Composer: Daniel Pemberton & Bobby Krlic (a.k.a. The Haxan Cloak).
Production Companies: A24 & Square Peg.
Distributor: A24.
Runtime:148 minutes.
Rated R.
