By Roger Costa
EDDINGTON
Ari Aster became an adjective among the horror industry. His films serve as a mirror for societal issues and the role of politics and manipulation in our generation. His latest project dives into the traumatic reactions of society during the COVID Pandemic of 2020 with impressive results. Using the health crisis as a backdrop for his sociopolitical statement, Aster delivers a definitive portrait of a divided and dysfunctional America, tackling racism, violence, corruption, political interest and other daily disasters of modernity.
Joaquin Phoenix leads a phenomenal cast including Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler and Emma Stone.
Phoenix delivers his best performance since “Joker”, building up a mysterious, morally ambiguous law enforcement rep navigating the city’s unexpected crisis accordingly to his own interests.
The story follows the conflict between the mayor and the local sheriff, as both decide to run for the next elections. The remote community is impacted by strange situations and sudden murders, while protests on police brutality erupts everywhere in the city. Aster reflects on these social conflicts as a witness of an era’s decline.
Enhanced by the glorious and atmospheric cinematography by Darius Khondji (the best of the year so far), this Cannes-sensation is Aster’s weirdest and most politically-accomplished film to date.
(A24. Opens Friday, August 15th at Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street).
STRANGER EYES
In this intense and gripping thriller from Singapore, a young couple goes through hell after their child is abducted. As investigation intensifies, the only clues to find their daughter are the recordings left by someone who’s been watching them since that crucial day. Terrifying and alarming, writer-director Yeo Siew Hua delivers a master work in suspense that feels fresh and modern throughout the entire narrative. While looking at the era of surveillance and voyeurism, offering a meditation on both sides of the effects, Hua also paints a canvas of this generation’s anxieties and behavior (especially the lack of commitment and endurance). The unnerving editing, swinging in time, creates a claustrophobic puzzle-like atmosphere leaving the audience on the edge with its unpredictable twists. A work Hitchcock would be proud of.
(A Film Movement Release. Opens August 29th at Film at Lincoln Center. Director in person at selected screenings)
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