Ari Aster’s ‘Eddington’ Is a Mirror. Like What You See?

The Big Picture

The Ringer

Tv & Film

4.3 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2025

⏱️ 119 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sean and Amanda are joined by “Mean Pod Guy” Adam Nayman to unpack Ari Aster’s divisive new film, ‘Eddington’—starring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal. They discuss why they all thoroughly enjoyed the film, how Aster successfully captures our present world with a cinematic use of phones, screens, and social media, and wonder how it will perform commercially and critically (7:53). Then, they briefly cover Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s twenty-seventh feature film, ‘Cloud,’ and explain why Kurosawa matters to cinema at large (1:03:57). Finally, Sean is joined by Aster to talk through what makes this movie different from his previous work, why he wanted to make this now, where he sees his career moving forward, and what projects he wants to make next (1:16:03). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guests: Ari Aster and Adam Nayman Producer: Jack Sanders THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THE STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ORDER NOW | STARBUCKS.COM/MENU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of The Big Picture is presented by Starbucks. We are big Starbucks Frapecino fans over here.
0:05.2	So when we heard about the new Strato Frappuccino blended beverage, we had to try it.
0:09.0	It's a craveworthy iced blended beverage topped with cold foam, making for delicious layers of flavor.
0:15.0	I love how Starbucks leans into the seasons, especially summer. From vibrant refreshers to cold blended beverages, there's
0:21.9	always something exciting to sip on. Available now for a limited time only, your strato
0:26.1	Frappuccino blended beverage is ready at Starbucks. I'm Sean Fennacy.
0:40.8	I'm Amanda Dobbins.
0:41.7	And this is the big picture of a conversation show about Eddington.
0:44.7	Adam Neiman joins us today to break down Ari Aster's fourth feature film.
0:48.3	It's a powder keg.
0:49.6	We're going to try to defuse as well as shine a light on Kyoshi Kurosawa,
0:53.3	Japanese Master,
0:58.4	whose hilariously bleak new film cloud finally opens in the U.S. this week.
1:02.1	Later in this episode, Ari Aster is back on the show.
1:05.4	This is his fifth time on the podcast for his fourth feature film.
1:06.7	He's come by for every movie.
1:11.3	He is, I think, one of the signature filmmakers of the run of this podcast.
1:12.9	Can I ask you something about this interview?
1:13.3	Certainly.
1:23.4	You were recording it when news broke that Aaron Sorkin would be remaking the social network or making part two about Jan 6.
1:26.6	Did you ask Ari about this live during your interview?
1:30.2	No, I turned notifications off when I'm conducting an interview.
	...

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