PHOTO COURTESY A24

Since watching “Eddington,” director Ari Aster’s western-tinged COVID saga, I keep thinking, “I suppose I can’t blame him for trying.”

Upon further reflection, however … you know what, I blame him for trying.

We are already seeing the pandemic years bleed into art in ways large and small; there were movies about the crisis made while it was still underway. Some were good (“Host,” the Zoom-inspired horror film), others were merely forgettable (“Locked Down,” a tale of love and money amid social distancing). While none of these films felt all that necessary, the desire to create during — here’s that overused phrase — unprecedented times is understandable.

The desire to look back and pass judgment with only a few years’ distance, however? That’s simply overestimating one’s own perspective.

In “Eddington,” it’s May 2020, and a small-town sheriff (Joaquim Phoenix) is fed up with mask mandates — and the sense of elitism he feels coming from the wealthy mayor (Pedro Pascal). Determined to take a stand, he spontaneously declares that he’s running for mayor himself — a fact which doesn’t please his nearly estranged wife (Emma Stone), who is getting lost in a maze of conspiracy theories.

Aster first wrote the script for a modern-day western way back in the mid-’10s, before he broke through with the excellent “Hereditary” in 2018. He claims he updated his existing story to place it during COVID. The results don’t quite fit; because the events of 2020 are made to fit onto an existing narrative, it’s often unclear why a particular element is portrayed the way it is (such as a well-funded band of Antifa instigators flying into the town on a private jet, the film’s most head-scratching thread).

The proceedings are intriguing and often funny early on, thanks largely to strong performances by Phoenix and Pascal. As Aster gets lost in the weeds of his own opinions, however, the film buckles and eventually falls apart. The writer/director seems to want to criticize everyone, taking easy shots at parties as disparate as conservative Facebook trolls and teenage Black Lives Matter protesters. It’s less a measured criticism of an admittedly absurd moment in history as it is a nihilistic, “South Park”-esque dismissal of everything and everyone.

After “Hereditary,” a minor masterpiece, Aster quickly followed it up with “Midsommar,” one of the most memorable horror films in recent memory. His third feature, “Beau is Afraid,” was a compelling mess; “Eddington” is just not very good.

The 38-year-old director still has time to reverse course; let’s just hope that he isn’t overly convinced of his own brilliance. A little success has a way of convincing filmmakers that they can do no wrong. For evidence, watch “Eddington.” Or better yet: don’t.

My Rating: 4/10

“Eddington” is now playing in theaters.