Actress Angelina Jolie makes a surprise appearance at the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in France. US considers pulling troops out of Europe ‘We have to stop what’s going on, it’s insane’: Robert De Niro on battling age,

CANNES, France (AP) — Ari Aster’s COVID-era Western “Eddington,” about a 2020 America quickly losing its mind to conspiracy theories, TikTok and political extremism, premiered to a mixed reception at the Cannes Film Festival.

Set in the pandemic’s early days, the noted horror director’s Covid comedy satirizes the national mood during lockdown. Reactions have been polarizing.

His dark and provocative new film was written "in a state of fear and anxiety about the world," the director said at a Cannes press conference

"Eddington," Ari Aster's modern Western starring Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Austin Butler and Pedro Pascal, earned a standing ovation at Cannes.

Making his Cannes Film Festival Competition debut, Ari Aster unveiled 'Eddington' in Cannes this evening, drawing a nearly seven-minute ovation.

Ari Aster's new psychological, COVID-set Western also gained fans in attendees Natalie Portman and Angelina Jolie.