First Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Leads Ari Aster’s Twisted Pandemic-Set Western ‘Eddington’

The first trailer for Eddington, a new movie by Ari Aster, is finally here. The film will premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival this May.

Eddington is a Western thriller mixed with black comedy. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, Clifton Collins Jr., and Amélie Hoeferle.

In the trailer, a man’s voice speaks at the start: “Of course, they keep looking at that lab in China. If you look at that lab in Wuhan. When that was established, it was 1956, of course, that was the year Tom Hanks was born, the first celebrity with the virus.”

Phoenix plays a sheriff in a small New Mexico town named Eddington. He starts to go against the town’s mayor, played by Pedro Pascal, during a time when a pandemic is spreading.

In one scene, Phoenix’s character scrolls through social media. He watches a video of himself saying, “the people of Eddington like guns,” and warning outsiders to be careful. Then there is a video of Austin Butler’s character giving a powerful speech: “pain is not a coincidence.”

Emma Stone appears next. Her character says, “speaking now to deny [her] husband’s announcement yesterday, which was false.”

We also see Amélie Hoeferle’s character. She shares a video that says, “When you finish reading James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room,” and writes in the caption: “1 like = 1 ACAB.”

The trailer also shows strange and controversial clips. One talks about a conspiracy involving Michael Jackson and 9/11. Another shows a black square from the #blackouttuesday movement.

Then, a campaign video shows Pascal’s character, Mayor Ted Garcia, promising to protect the town during the pandemic.

There’s also a news video showing Phoenix’s sheriff with the headline: “ ‘Law and Order’ Sheriff Assaults Protestor in Town Rocked By Murders.”

Ari Aster wrote and directed the movie. He also produced it with Lars Knudsen under their Square Peg company. This is Aster’s fourth film after Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau is Afraid.

A24 is backing the movie and began selling it earlier this year at the European Film Market in Berlin. That was a hint it might appear at Cannes — and now it’s official

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