This confirms Aster as one of America’s most provocative auteurs, as he uses a fictional town on the brink of the coronavirus to capture the post-2020 zeitgeist of rage-baiting politics, the toxicity of social media and post-truth nihilism, backed by a sensational turn by Joaquin Phoenix.
Aster reinvents his wheel of perverse creativity with this epic three-hour odyssey as a man (Joaquin Phoenix in a fantastic performance) suffering from chronic anxiety and the inability to take responsibility embarks on a Freudian journey of self-confrontation.
Ari Aster’s sophomore effort may be too disturbing for the uninitiated viewer, but its strange, otherworldly quality is an experience like no other.
Not even Toni Collette’s arresting performance or the film’s excellent craftsmanship can save this rather uncompelling and overrated horror mystery.
Eternality Tan 