MOVIE NEWS – Ari Aster’s latest film, Eddington, is shaping up to be one of this year’s boldest and most polarizing releases. The newest A24 trailer teases an explosive showdown between Joaquin Phoenix’s Joe Cross and Pedro Pascal’s Ted Garcia. The 60-second teaser delivers relentless tension—unlike anything from Aster so far. Eddington promises a wild departure from the director’s horror roots, going full western action.

The adrenaline-charged new trailer puts Eddington’s ensemble cast front and center, pitching the film as a high-stakes, multi-layered drama. At its core: Sheriff Joe Cross (Phoenix) and Mayor Ted Garcia (Pascal), two men with clashing visions of power and leadership, locked in conflict at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a contemporary, nerve-racking backdrop—vintage Aster, echoing the unease of Beau is Afraid and Midsommar.

The trailer keeps things mysterious, but a murder investigation is clearly the driving force: Cross is juggling the fallout and a heated mayoral campaign against Garcia. Supporting players include Cross’s wife, Louise (Emma Stone), and Austin Butler as Vernon Jefferson Peak, all tangled in a web of shifting allegiances as Eddington’s battle for control spirals toward violence.

‘Eddington’ Is Splitting Critics Right Down the Middle

Aster is going all-in on action: the trailer shows Phoenix brandishing heavy firepower and racing through chaotic chases. Pull quotes call Eddington the first “truly modern Western,” a nod to the New Mexico setting and pandemic-era plot. With so much gunplay and tension, the western branding is spot-on.

Eddington had its world premiere in competition at Cannes 2025—and like its characters, the critical response was sharply divided. Luke Hearfield wrote on X that Eddington went from his “most anticipated” to “biggest disappointment,” calling it “a different movie every 30 minutes.” Meanwhile, Matt Neglia praised the film as “a new kind of horror” that “hits close to home, and deservedly so.”

Whether Eddington will split general audiences the same way remains to be seen, but the film’s marketing has evolved: early teasers were ominous and slow, but this new trailer delivers a classic western face-off. Eddington rides into theaters July 18, 2025.

Source: X