EDDINGTON
A sharp political setup collapses into confused, violent, Marxist chaos.
Should You Watch It?
Here's the short version: this one isn't for you, and it likely isn't for anyone. EDDINGTON opens with genuine promise — sharp, funny political observation about COVID-era government overreach and the shallow performance of some woke protesters. For a while, it looks like it might have something honest to say to both sides.
Then it doesn't. The sheriff's political feud with the mayor curdles into a personal vendetta rooted in an old affair and a false rape accusation, and the movie's focus dissolves with it. What began as insightful commentary becomes, in the film's own arc, "just another shallow radical attack on liberty and values" — dressed up with a third-act twist, lots of gratuitous violence, and dozens of obscenities that add nothing.
You won't walk away entertained or enlightened. You'll walk away having sat through 148 minutes of decline. Skip it.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIt's May 2020 in Eddington, New Mexico. Sheriff Joe Cross objects to Mayor Ted Garcia's COVID mask mandate, calling it government overreach — and decides to run against him for mayor. Old wounds resurface: Cross's wife and the mayor had a teenage affair years ago that ended in an abortion. As a data-center water dispute and a wave of anti-police protests roil the town, the sheriff's public campaign against the mayor turns dangerously personal. What happens next, we'll leave for you to skip.
Is It Any Good?
Two stars means real promise undone by real problems, and that's exactly what's here. The opening stretch has some genuinely sharp, funny political observation — the film even pokes fun at young white protesters wracked by performative guilt as they claim to speak for others. That's a rare moment of even-handed satire.
But once the sheriff's political rivalry turns into a personal grudge, the movie loses its footing. It abandons its own debate, becomes a murder investigation, and then pivots into a third-act plot twist the source calls disconnected from everything that came before — triggering violence described as gratuitous and "silly," and ending on an ironic coda that explains nothing about the characters' motivations. A strong opening squandered.
The Worldview
EDDINGTON starts out willing to needle both sides of America's COVID-era divide, and that even-handedness is the best thing about it. It mocks government overreach and mask mandates with some genuine wit, and it's honest enough to notice that some young activists apologizing for their whiteness while speaking over the very people they claim to represent are, in the film's own eyes, a little absurd.
That's where the fairness ends. The film settles into a very strong humanist and politically correct worldview, and what starts as balanced satire descends into what the source calls a confused, shallow Neo-Marxist attack on liberty and values — offering no real counterpoint to the chaos it depicts, just cycles of grievance, revenge, and destruction. One character's spiritual confusion — claiming a "new god is rising" one moment and that he's "fortified in Christ" the next — mirrors the film's larger incoherence about what, if anything, it actually believes.
Underneath the political noise is an old, ordinary sin: a man convinced he's owed vengeance takes it himself, and the town burns for it. Scripture answers that impulse directly: "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God" (Romans 12:19). EDDINGTON shows what happens when a man doesn't leave it there — and offers no better vision to replace it.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Very strong humanist and politically correct worldview with a very strong but confused and shallow Marxist and Neo-Marxist attack on liberty and values, although the movie starts off with some cogent, insightful, and funny commentary against government overreach during the COVID lockdowns and mask orders and some funny comedy about Anti-American and woke protests these days, especially the young white Marxists involved in them who seem rather shallow and ironically wracked by white guilt because they pose as spokespeople for people of color and Native Americans, plus one character seems to be New Age one moment where he says a new god is rising, then says he has the Holy Spirit and is fortified in Christ another moment
Foul Language
At least 71 obscenities (including at least 43 “f” words), two profanities mentioning Jesus, one GD profanity, and five light profanities
Violence
Some very strong violence when a group of thugs start shooting up a town and the local sheriff starts fighting back by getting weapons from a local gun shop, a man’s leg is shot off, a man has a knife plunged into his skull, a bomb explodes and kills a man with blood and gore spraying and a charred hand is shown, a man is shot in the leg and head, a man is shot in the body and face, some pushing and shoving during a street protest that starts to get out of hand, a man and the sheriff uses a rifle to murder his political opponent and murder the man’s son
Sex
No sex scenes but some light sexual references such as woman denies her husband conjugal relations (they sleep with a row of pillows between them), woman says her father raped her when she and some other people mention pedophilia, man publicly says his political rival raped his wife when they were young and she had an abortion, a minor character wants to be called they/them, and a male teenager jokingly urges another male teenager to text a photo of his genitals
Nudity
Full frontal male nudity when a nude paralyzed man is moved in one scene
Alcohol Use
Some alcohol use includes underage teenage beer drinking at an outdoor gathering and a homeless man seems drunk whenever he appears
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
People smoke cigarettes briefly, and two teenagers smoke marijuana;
Miscellaneous Immorality
The fictional mayor of a town tries to enforce unconstitutional mandates from the governor of New Mexico during the alleged COVID pandemic, but the movie lightly mocks what he’s doing, the Hispanic mayor’s major political opponent (a white sheriff) seems to be acting righteously for a time but then he goes bonkers and assassinates the mayor and his teenage son and tries to frame a black deputy sheriff for the murders.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Sheriff Cross starts with a legitimate concern about government overreach but lets personal grudges take it over. When does righteous frustration curdle into destructive anger?
Romans 12:19 · James 1:20The film's young protesters apologize for their own skin color while claiming to speak for others. What does Scripture say about where our identity and worth actually come from?
Galatians 3:28 · 2 Corinthians 5:17A false accusation of rape sets off much of the film's tragedy. Why does Scripture take bearing false witness against a neighbor so seriously?
Exodus 20:16 · Proverbs 12:22The story ends in chaos with no clear moral center — just grievance answered by more grievance. Where should we actually look for justice when human systems and human anger fail?
Micah 6:8 · Romans 12:19The Final Word
EDDINGTON had the makings of something sharper — a few minutes of genuinely even-handed political comedy before it loses itself entirely. What's left is heavy profanity, gratuitous violence, and a confused ideological mess with nothing constructive to offer. Our answer stands: skip it. For something worth your family's time instead, see our latest picks.
