There’s beauty in being able to pick up your phone and search for answers to your questions. Having such easy access to information can also be a scary thing though, because sometimes that ‘at the moment’ questionleads to your algorithmbeing full of similar content.Emma Stoneknows this all too well after her algorithm transformed into a “rabbit hole” of crazy things while filmingAri Aster’sEddington. The Western film just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, although the early reviews are mixed. Itwill hit theaters on August 10, 2025, and Stone playsJoaquin Phoenix’s character’s (Joe Cross, Eddington’s sheriff) wife, Louise, and to prepare for the role, she had to learn about conspiracy theories.
Her character in the filmfell down a conspiracy rabbit hole after meeting Austin Butler’s character. According toVariety, because she had to learn about conspiracy theories to play the part perfectly, some of that information is still lingering in her algorithm. During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival, Stone reflected on how scary it is to still see that on social media.
The only additional thing that scared me a little bit in the algorithm system was looking into some of the things that are in this film that haven’t been in my algorithm, unfortunately added them to my algorithm. Because once you start Googling it, you start seeing more and more things. So it’s a real rabbit hole, very quickly. Unfortunately, I’m still gettingfed some crazy s**t.
Ari Aster’s Latest Movie Isn’t ‘Hereditary’ or ‘Beau Is Afraid,’ but a Secret Third Thing
The trailer for the Western thriller ‘Eddington,’ starring Joaquin Phoenix, just dropped, and it looks like a new direction for Ari Aster.
Eddingtonreceived a five-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. In it, Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal’s characters arehaving a standoff in the fictional townof Eddington, New Mexico. The town’s sheriff (Joe Cross) and the Mayor (Ted Garcia, who is also running for reelection) are completely different, and their issues cause a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor.Aster’s Western filmdoesn’t seem to take a hard stance on politics (choosing a side); rather, it highlights both while set in May 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pedro Pascal shared a hilarious memory fromthe COVID-19 lockdown, saying that the only thing he could watch to protect himself from the algorithm was the filmography ofTwin Peaksactor Lara Flynn Boyle. “There were several seasons of David E. Kelley’s ‘The Precious’ and it was all on Hulu and I watched it. That and reality shows about airports, like old A&E, people just losing their s**t at the airport or trying to move their house in boxes but using Southwest Airlines instead of a shipping company and stuff like that. I was educating myself.”
‘Eddington’ Reviews Are Mixed, But Not Necessarily Bad
While there are some critics callingEddingtonthe start of horrible films for Ari Aster, there are a good number of positive reviews saying otherwise.Westerns, from their golden ageto modern films in the genre, always had some kind of politics worked into their plot. Sometimes it’s subtle and other times it’s completely direct. Criticism is expected of everything that goes out to the public, but movies like this almost always create thinkpieces.
Source:Variety
