Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Eddington!

Ari Aster’s new film Eddington has finally been released, and many viewers are wondering if the shocking and divisive 2025 movie is based on a true story. Like Aster’s other films, Eddington is incredibly dark and weird. However, the film is much more grounded than Hereditary, Midsommar, or Beau is Afraid, leading many to question the true story behind Eddington.

Eddington tells the story of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joe Cross, a New Mexico Sheriff who has a rivalry with the mayor of Eddington, New Mexico, Pedro Pascal’s Ted Garcia. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, Joe decides to run for mayor against Ted. This leads to a mᴀssive escalation in their rivalry, with tensions rising throughout New Mexico as things continually get worse.

The Western comedy movie obviously has a lot of connections to the real world, with it tackling contemporary politics that are still being debated today. The film’s May 2020 setting and relatively grounded tone sets up the possibility that Eddington could be telling a true story, and director Ari Aster has already discussed some of the inspirations behind his newest film.

Eddington Is Not (Strictly) Based On A True Story

But It Does Have Real-Life Inspirations

Although the film has some real-life connections, Eddington is not based on a true story. The film’s characters are all fictional, as there is no real Sheriff Joe Cross, Mayor Ted Garcia, or any other character from Eddington as depicted in the film. The murders, crimes, protests, cults, and more depicted in Eddington are not real either, with them being fictional elements of the story that are mixed in with some real historical moments.

In fact, the town of Eddington, New Mexico is not real either. Eddington was based on several real New Mexico cities, with it being filmed in Albuquerque and Truth or Consequences. However, Eddington is a made-up city created by Ari Aster when writing the film, with the тιтular town and its politics, figures, and history being entirely fictional.

Although Eddington isn’t strictly based on a true story, it does have some roots in reality. Eddington‘s fictional elements all stem from real-life events, with the film exploring the impacts of these political moments. Thus, Aster examines how things like the COVID-19 Pandemic and other moments from 2020 affect small towns like Eddington, leading to the crimes, conspiracies, and conflicts seen throughout the film.

Eddington Was Inspired By COVID-19 Politics & A Particular Mayor & Sheriff’s Feud

Ari Aster Met The Sheriff Who Inspired Joe Cross

Eddington may not be a true story, but it is inspired by some real-life events. Notably, the COVID-19 Pandemic served as a major inspiration for the film. The movie starts out in the midst of the pandemic, with characters debating masking, vaccines, and more. Eddington mentions the responses of real-life governors, such as Gavin Newsom and Michelle Lujan Grisham, with Grisham even gifting Pedro Pascal’s character a fictional plot element.

Eddington also features a lot of COVID-19 conspiracy theories that were actually being debated at that time. Deirdre O’Connell’s Dawn can be heard discussing what she believes to be the dangers of mRNA vaccines, alternative cures to COVID, and conspiracies about the virus’s origins. Meanwhile, characters in Eddington have to deal with protocols like social distancing, isolation, and more.

COVID-19 isn’t the only real-life political issue that Eddington was based on. The other key element seen in the film is the Black Lives Matter protests. Early in the film, Joe Cross and his two deputies watch a news broadcast that discusses the death of George Floyd and the police brutality that led to his death. Eddington‘s timeline then shows the fallout of this event, with the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping the country.

Eventually, Black Lives Matter protests come to Eddington, and the police officers have to handle them. Signs and chants familiar to those who were around the BLM protests can be seen and heard throughout Eddington, showing the realism of these scenes. Outside of that, Eddington features storylines inspired by the likes of ANTIFA and Kyle Rittenhouse, while also referencing Donald Trump’s presidency, killer hornets, and more.

These still aren’t all of Eddington‘s real-life inspirations, however. According to Ari Aster, he wrote Eddington at the time that the film was set, meaning that COVID-19 was on everyone’s mind. When he began working on the script several years later, he went back to drive around New Mexico. There, he would seek out and talk to small-town mayors, police officers, and sheriffs.

Vulture: The movie can at least comment on the era with a rearview mirror that those movies made during lockdown couldn’t. Did you find catharsis in working through this potentially permanently damaging moment of our recent history?

Aster: Yeah. One of the best things that came out of the process was that I’ve always wanted to make a film about New Mexico. I grew up there. My family still lives there. I know New Mexico probably better than any other place. I was writing this script in a state of fear and anxiety about the world. I was writing it at the time the film was set, and I was really just trying to get it all on paper. We had reached a boiling point, and it felt like things were about to explode. It’s gone down to more of a simmer. It’s gradually just plateaued, so we’re just living with it. When I came back to rewrite the script, I went back out to New Mexico, drove around the state, and went to different small towns to talk to police and mayors. I went to different counties to talk to sheriffs, went to pueblos.

Vulture: You talked to them specifically about their experience with COVID?

Aster: Yes, and about their feelings about politics in New Mexico. It’s a very specific, interesting place. It’s a blue state, but most of the smaller towns are red. And the governor of New Mexico is sort of a controversial figure. I did not find anybody who did not have very strong convictions about what was happening. Many of the characters in the film are modeled on different people I met. For instance, Joaquin’s character is based on the sheriff of a vast county with a small population. He had a very pᴀssionate, long-standing feud with the mayor. And the mayor was a really interesting guy who, before he ran for mayor, went to town hall with a gun on his person, and he was ejected from town hall. He ran on a platform of, “I’m going to make it so that if you come to town hall, you have to have to have a gun.”

Vulture: Oh my God.

Aster: And he won!

Vulture: Fascinating.

Aster: The sheriff and him were really at odds on a lot of things, especially mask mandates. Joe Cross is based on that man, even his wardrobe. I flew back out to New Mexico so that Joaquin could meet him and a few other people that I really liked, and we spent a day just driving around the county with the sheriff. He came to set several times to consult.

Aster would specifically ask them about their thoughts and experiences throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. Aster met a sheriff of a large county who had a rivalry with a controversial New Mexico mayor. This sheriff completely disagreed with the mayor on mask mandates, among other things.

Aster decides to base Joaquin Phoenix’s Joe Cross on this character. The director even had Phoenix spend time with the real-life sheriff, who also ended up consulting on the film. The sheriff’s mannerisms and wardrobe inspired the creation of Cross as well, further cementing the real-life roots of Eddington‘s fictional story.