EDDINGTON

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

May 2020 – In the town of Eddington, New Mexico, a drunken homeless man, Lodge (Clifton Collins Jr), is babbling incoherently as he wanders through the outskirts of town. Lodge passes a sign for a data company, “SolidGoldMagikarp”, set to be developed in time.

It is early in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) has implemented a lockdown and mask policies. Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) of Sevilla County does not want to abide by the rules, claiming he has asthma and should not have to wear a mask. Joe is called to a bar for a disturbance, where Lodge is causing a scene. Ted is there, holding a meeting since he did not want to do it in his own office, and he already appears to have a rocky relationship with Joe. Joe goes to deal with Lodge, and the two men struggle, with Lodge coughing on Joe before he walks out of the bar. Joe is then filmed by Eric (Matt Gomez Hikada), son of Ted, and his friend Brian (Cameron Mann).

Joe lives with his wife Louise (Emma Stone) and her mother Dawn (Deirdre O’Connell). Neither of them are particularly fond of Dawn because of her condescending attitude toward both of them, as well as her many QAnon-esque conspiracy theories.

The next morning, Joe goes to the local supermarket where an older man is being denied entry because he refuses to wear a mask. Joe goes into the store without a mask as well, and is confronted by Ted in front of other patrons. Joe ends up buying groceries for the older man. Afterwards, Joe goes to his car and makes a video announcing his candidacy for mayor of Eddington, citing the people’s need for freedom and unity in these difficult times. Louise sees the announcement and does not look pleased. Joe goes back to the police station and enlists the aids of his deputies, Guy (Luke Grimes) and Michael (Micheal Ward), in helping him with his campaign. Outside the station, Ted tries to talk to Joe about his decision to run against him, implying that some of it has to do with Ted’s past involving Louise.

At Ted’s home, he is in a Zoom conference with others who are either for or against SolidGoldMagikarp. Ted then chastises Eric for being out with other people when he is trying to get the other citizens to listen to him and stay safe from COVID. Eric and Brian later go to an outdoor gathering, where Brian sees his crush, Sarah (Amelie Hoeferle). Although Brian tries to appeal to her with similar liberal-leaning views, Eric steps in and catches Sarah’s interest instead, leaving Brian quietly jealous.

Joe tries to make things up to Louise by promising to cook her dinner. When he tries to show her, Louise and Dawn bring home cult leader Vernon Jefferson Peak (Austin Butler), along with two of his followers. During the dinner, Vernon talks about his past, where he was trafficked and abused, which causes Louise to recount her own stories of sexual abuse by her father, someone that Deirdre still holds in high regard.

News of George Floyd’s murder goes nationwide, leading to people like Eric, Sarah, and Brian engaging in Black Lives Matters protests against the police. Sarah tries to recruit Michael, who is her ex-boyfriend, but he refuses to join her. A video of Joe’s confrontation with Lodge also goes viral as an indicator of police brutality in Eddington. Joe, Guy, and Michael all go to disperse an ongoing riot. The protestors take a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in honor of Floyd. Meanwhile, Brian’s jealousy of Eric and Sarah grows, leading to him sending Michael a picture of the two of them kissing.

Joe gathers some of his close friends and followers at a restaurant to make a smear video against Ted, claiming that he had sexually assaulted Louise. To Joe’s surprise, Louise quickly posts a response video, saying that while she was abused, it was not by Ted. She later leaves town with Vernon, leaving Joe with Dawn.

Joe responds to a noise complaint from a campaign party at Ted’s house. He goes to childishly turn off the music, but Ted doesn’t let him. Ted slaps him twice in front of his guests, while Joe can only walk away pathetically. Joe drives back into town and goes by the bar, where Lodge has broken into and is drinking and blubbering. As Lodge is ranting about “getting her back”, Joe finally snaps and shoots Lodge to death. He wraps Lodge’s body in a bag and dumps him in the lake. He then goes just far enough from the Garcia house and kills both Ted and Eric with a sniper rifle.

Joe tries to cover up the murders as an attack by “Antifa extremists”. Pueblo officer Butterfly Jimenez (William Belleau) is called upon to investigate since the crimes happened on the tribe’s territory. Jimenez finds a shell casing that Joe forgot to pick up, but Joe brushes it off. After talking to Brian, Joe has Michael open his phone and show the picture of Eric and Sarah, leading to Joe arresting Michael for probable cause so he can pin the murders on him.

After passing a vigil for Ted and Eric, Joe is called back to the station when a dumpster fire is reported. On top of that, Michael is no longer in his cell. Joe and Guy drive to the outskirts of town, where Michael is standing near a lit barrel and tries to warn them to get away. Someone detonates an explosive, killing Guy and heavily injuring Michael, while also spelling out “NO PEACE” in flames. The perpetrators turn out to be actual Antifa extremists, who begin shooting at Joe, but he manages to escape fire. He returns home and at first believes he sees Louise has returned, but it’s just Dawn, who thinks that Louise and Vernon killed Ted and Eric, and that they are going after her as well.

The gunmen make it to Joe’s house and continue to open fire, forcing him to run back into town. Joe runs into a gun store and arms himself. As he shoots wildly into the street, he accidentally shoots Jimenez in the foot, and one of the extremists shoots him in the head. The large gunman walks up to Joe and stabs him in the head, but Brian gets out his phone and records himself shooting and killing the extremist.

One year later, Brian has become a right-wing celebrity due to his “heroism” during the shooting. Joe is now a vegetable as a result of his attack, but he is still elected mayor. Dawn uses her position to speak on his behalf and also seems to be working alongside SolidGoldMagikarp, now that their data center has officially opened. Joe now lives with Dawn and a caretaker. Dawn shows Joe a video of Vernon speaking, and Louise is next to him, now pregnant with Vernon’s baby. Joe can only wheeze pitifully in sadness. Later that night, he is forced to share a bed with Dawn while the caretaker crawls into bed with her.

On the outskirts of town, Michael is engaging in target practice, ending with him firing a headshot at his target.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheriff Joe Cross and Mayor Ted Garcia engage in a rivalry in the town of Eddington, New Mexico. Ted implements safety measures to combat the virus, while Joe thinks the mandates infringe upon the freedom of citizens, so he decides to run for mayor against Ted. When he posts a phony video accusing Ted of having sexually abused Joe's wife Louise, she posts a response denying the allegations, and she leaves town with a cult leader named Vernon Jefferson Peak.

Protests against the police begin as a result of the murder of George Floyd. Joe eventually snaps and kills a homeless man before killing Ted and his son Eric with a sniper rifle. He pins the blame on "Antifa extremists", unaware that actual extremists are arriving in Eddington. Joe pins the murders on his deputy Michael, making it seem like he killed them out of jealousy because Eric was hooking up with his ex-girlfriend Sarah. The extremists break Michael out of jail and detonate a bomb on the outskirts of town, killing Joe's other deputy Guy and forcing him to run.

A shootout occurs in the middle of town. Joe arms himself and accidentally gets a Pueblo officer, Butterfly Jimenez, killed in the crossfire. Joe is stabbed in the head by an extremist, but Eric's friend Brian records himself shooting and killing the extremist. A year later, Brian becomes a right-wing celebrity, while Joe becomes mayor but is essentially left as a vegetable while his mother-in-law Dawn speaks on his behalf. He also discovers that Louise is now pregnant with Vernon's baby.