Eddington‘s reactions are in following the movie’s release this weekend, and it seems to have divided audiences. The film is the fourth A24 movie from acclaimed director Ari Aster. It takes on an intense time in recent history, covering a May 2020 COVID-19 pandemic standoff between a mayor and a sheriff in a New Mexico town.
Eddington premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and even from then, opinions were split. The movie has a 67% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, showing this division. One of the middling reviews came from ScreenRant‘s Graeme Guttmann, who gave Eddington 6 out of 10 stars.
Now, audience reactions are in for Eddington. Plenty of viewers appreciated the film, but it also elicited memes and was deemed “No Country for Woke Men.” Some people walked out of the movie confused, and others were not satisfied by it. Check out some responses below:
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Brendan Hodges was the one to cleverly refer to the movie as “NO COUNTRY FOR WOKE MEN,” but still enjoyed the movie.
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Some pointed out that Eddington‘s naysayers may have simply not liked being called out by the film, such as Sonny Bunch, who referred to the “I’m in this pH๏τo and I don’t like it” meme.
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Matt Dolloff compared the movie to “South Park come to life,” but seemed to enjoy it overall.
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Others were less impressed, such as a moviegoer who, according to @Giannit, “pulled out his phone and started recording himself talking at full volume about what a piece of sh*t it was.“
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@thebitchinthetv posted a very confused-seeming meme and noted that “eddington feels like this.”
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@billieroan posted a video of Eddington star Austin Butler at Cannes and said “this is the face of someone who also hated eddington.”
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Meanwhile, @yosoymichael was surprised that people actually liked Eddington, reflecting numerous reactions.
What This Means For Eddington
The Movie Was Always Going To Be Contentious
Eddington focuses on a recent period of history and satirizes multiple angles of the American political spectrum. It takes on issues such as masking, anti-masking, and the rise of performative activism in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Given this, it was bound to be a divisive film.
Eddington stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Micheal Ward, and Butler.
People are already reacting to the things that make Eddington so polarizing. The political readings of the film are starkly different depending on who is watching the film, and some are offended while others are amused. At minimum, Aster has made a movie that has clearly gotten people talking.
Our Take On The Eddington Reactions
The Split Reviews Have Affected The Box Office
So far, Eddington is not doing very well in theaters. It made only $4.2 million during its domestic opening, the second-lowest in Aster’s career thus far. In a packed summer, this is a movie that is more likely to get a second wind when it comes to digital or streaming. It seems Eddington is just too politically contentious for box office success.
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