Aster-ix: unpicking indie cinema’s burgeoning new bromance

In partnership with Universal Pictures UK

In 2023, horror auteur Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar) upended expectations with his third feature film, Beau Is Afraid. This deeply surreal black comedy featured a powerhouse performance from Joaquin Phoenix as Beau Wassermann, a middle-aged man desperately trying to overcome extreme anxiety and clinical paranoia on a journey to his recently deceased mother’s house.

Now, Aster and Phoenix are re-teaming for Eddington, a dazzlingly ambitious satirical comedy fever dream set in 2020. Phoenix stars as Joe Cross, the dependable Sheriff of a remote New Mexico town called Eddington. When the progressive mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) refuses to relax state-imposed mask mandates, honest Joe launches an increasingly extreme campaign to supplant him.

This transformative role benefits from every ounce of Phoenix’s singular intensity and capacity to surprise. Ahead of Eddington‘s release in cinemas on August 22, here’s the lowdown on Aster and Phoenix’s massively exciting creative partnership.

Aster recognises the power in casting Phoenix against type

In the film’s opening stretch, our sympathies mostly lie with Joe. He’s trying to serve his community at a terrible time when (as with most of the world) America had been turned into a ghost town – while making the best of his testing home life. His traumatised wife Louise (Emma Stone) keeps him at arm’s length physically and emotionally, while his exasperating mother-in-law Dawn (Deirdre O’Connell) is dragging both women down a QAnon rabbit hole.

Aster says he wanted Joe to appear “sweet and guileless” in a way that audiences might not expect from Phoenix, who’s associated with dark and complicated characters. “Joe is likeable and relatable, the town hero,” adds the actor. “He’s vulnerable and cares about his community and his wife, and he fights for what’s right.”

But of course, Joe’s positive first impression only makes the life-altering journey he embarks on even more shocking and emotionally shattering.

They share a flair for the unconventional

Phoenix has carved out a generational career by taking on incredibly idiosyncratic roles: profoundly troubled Beau Wassermann, a doped-up private investigator in Inherent Vice, the nihilistic stand-up comedian of Joker, for which he won an Oscar.

This willingness to take a big swing makes him the ideal collaborator for Aster. With Eddington, the director gives us something we’ve never seen from him: a rootsy smalltown drama that balances shocking plot twists with stinging social commentary. A subplot based around the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests brilliantly satirises the way that a vital social movement can still be co-opted by people who are trying desperately not to exercise their privilege.

They’re both sticklers for authenticity

Phoenix is known for undergoing intense preparation for every project – a quality he shares with Aster. Before production began on Eddington, both men ventured to New Mexico to soak up the local atmosphere. “I didn’t care for New Mexico growing up, but I’ve grown to love it as an adult,” says Aster, who spent his adolescence in state capital Santa Fe. “I did a lot of research going from city to city, town to town, Pueblo to Pueblo, talking to as many people as I could to get the fullest picture of state and local politics.”

Phoenix found their extended recce equally illuminating. “We spent a time travelling around New Mexico, talking with local sheriffs and officials,” he says. “Getting those perspectives was helpful. And Pedro brings real humanity to his [local politician] character, but also a realistic complacency and hypocrisy, which Joe takes on.”

Neither is afraid of letting things get awkward

During an A24 podcast interview to promote Beau Is Afraid, Phoenix revealed that he prepared for a particularly challenging scene – a single take of Beau having a bath – in a highly unusual way. “I just started screaming – just the most intense guttural pain scream that I could before we were shooting, sitting there, because I had to just fully humiliate myself,” the actor recalled. “And then [I could] just go like, ‘OK, well once that’s happened, you can’t look any more stupid than you do now.'”

In response, Aster said he remembered “knowing” why the primal scream felt necessary. “It was shocking in a way that was exciting, I think, because it did jar everybody,” he explained. “And I felt like it was good because the energy in the room did suddenly become both alert and disturbed.”

This propensity to dig deep – seriously deep – would have proven very useful when the duo were making Eddington. As the film progresses, Sheriff Joe makes some questionable choices that change his life – and the shape of the local community – forever. And there’s no doubt that Phoenix makes his every move horribly convincing. The Aster-Phoenix partnership just took another huge step. Make sure you don’t miss this latest part of their journey and see Eddington in cinemas as soon as you can.

‘Eddington’ opens in UK cinemas on August 22

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