“Eddington” Ignites Passionate Debate at Cannes Film Festival

Ari Aster’s new film “Eddington” has sparked intense discussion at the Cannes Film Festival, with its exploration of politics, identity, and truth in the digital age. The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler, is set in small-town New Mexico during the Covid-19 pandemic and tackles hot-button topics like identity politics, social media silos, and conspiracy theories.

“I wanted to paint a picture of the society that we’re now living in,” Aster said during a press conference. “And I didn’t want to attach myself to one ideology or one story or one belief system, because it’s too narrow. That’s not the point, y’know? The film is designed to be ambiguous in certain ways.”

A Reflection of Modern Society

Aster explained that he wrote the film in a state of fear and anxiety about the world. “I wanted to try and pull back and just describe and show what it feels like to live in a world where nobody can agree on what is real anymore,” he said.

The film’s ambiguity has led to varied interpretations, with some commentators already making the case that it speaks to their own views. “What the film is about, for me, is about what happens when people who are so isolated and are living in their own realities – what happens when they come into conflict with each other,” Aster said.

Fear and Reprisal

The cast and director faced questions about the current state of America and the potential risks of creating films with political messages. Pedro Pascal responded, “Fear is the way that they win. So keep telling the stories, keep expressing yourself, and keep fighting to be who you are. And f—k the people that try to make you scared, y’know? And fight back. This is the perfect way to do so, in telling stories. And don’t let them win.”

Pascal also spoke about his own experiences as a refugee and the importance of protecting those who are vulnerable. “My parents are refugees from Chile. I myself was a refugee. We fled a dictatorship. And I was privileged enough to grow up in the US after asylum in Denmark. And if it weren’t for that, I don’t know what would have happened to us. And so I stand by those protections, always.”

A Dangerous Road

When asked if there was “nothing left but civil war waiting for America,” Aster replied, “I think we’re on a dangerous road, and I feel like we’re living through an experiment that is going wrong – it’s gone wrong. It’s not going well and it feels like there’s no way out of it… (It) should probably be stopped or paused because it’s not working, but it’s clear that nobody’s actually interested in stopping it.”

The film’s premiere has added fuel to the already politically charged atmosphere at the Cannes Film Festival, which has been a platform for artistic expression and political activism since its inception.