By Drew Taylor

Ari Aster had wanted to make a Western for a while.

The director of modern horror classics “Hereditary” and “Midsommar,” whose last film was the comedic freak-out “Beau Is Afraid,” grew up in New Mexico and longed to make his “New Mexico movie.” He had even contemplated making a Western his first movie. But it wasn’t until 2020, in the midst of the global pandemic, that Aster began to write what would ultimately become “Eddington,” opening later this month from A24. “That came out of just feeling the waters heating up to a boil and needing an outlet and feeling so overwhelmed by everything,” Aster told TheWrap. “I just wanted to start recording what I was seeing and feeling and make a film that reflected the environment.”