If you walked into Ari Aster’s Eddington expecting the usual surrealist nightmare fuel of Midsommar or the sprawling anxiety of Beau Is Afraid, you probably left the theater (or finished the HBO Max stream) talking about one thing: the politics. Or maybe the machine guns. But for the real cinephiles, the conversation always circles back to the guy lurking in the margins of the New Mexico dust. Clifton Collins Jr.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a crime how little he was used in the marketing. While A24 was busy plastering Joaquin Phoenix’s weary face and Pedro Pascal’s mustache all over the posters, Collins was quietly putting in some of the most haunting work of his career. He plays Lodge, a character described as a "mentally ill vagrant," but if you know anything about how Ari Aster writes, nobody is just one thing. Lodge is the moral—or maybe immoral—thermometer of the whole town.
The Role of Lodge in the Eddington Chaos
Most people went into this movie wanting to see the showdown between Sheriff Joe Cross (Phoenix) and Mayor Ted Garcia (Pascal). It’s 2020. The world is ending. Masks are the new battleground. In the middle of this powder keg sits Lodge.
Clifton Collins Jr. has always been a chameleon. You remember him as the heartbreaking Perry Smith in Capote or the weathered rider in Jockey. In Eddington, he uses that same stillness. Lodge isn’t a lead, but he’s the guy who sees everything. He’s the "marginalized" figure—a role that was originally written for a Black actor in the script but was adapted for Collins. This shift changed the texture of the character. Instead of just a symbol of racial tension, Lodge became a symbol of the discarded people who fall through the cracks of a town tearing itself apart over ideology.
There is a specific scene—no spoilers, but let's just say it involves a hill overlooking the town—where Collins barely says a word. He just watches. It’s creepy. It’s sad. It’s classic Aster.
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Why Clifton Collins Jr. Was the Perfect Choice
Aster has a knack for casting actors who feel like they’ve actually lived in the dirt. He doesn't want "Hollywood" pretty; he wants "I haven't slept in three days and I have thoughts about the government" real. Collins brings a lived-in authenticity that balances out the more heightened, almost operatic performances of Austin Butler (playing a radical cult leader) and Emma Stone.
- Versatility: He can go from terrifying to vulnerable in a blink.
- Physicality: The way he carries himself as Lodge—hunched, wary, yet strangely dignified—tells you more than five pages of dialogue.
- The "Aster" Factor: He fits the director’s obsession with characters who are trapped by their own psychology or their environment.
Breaking Down the Plot: Where Does Lodge Fit?
The movie basically follows the mayoral election from hell. It’s set in a fictionalized version of New Mexico (though they actually filmed in places like Truth or Consequences). While the big dogs are fighting over data centers and COVID mandates, Lodge is essentially the ghost of the town.
There’s a lot of talk online about the "defund the police" subplot in the film. Some critics, like those over at ScriptShadow, pointed out that Lodge becomes a catalyst for Sheriff Joe Cross’s ultimate mental break. It’s a dark turn. Like, really dark. Even for a guy who made a movie about a hereditary cult. When the local social justice movement gains steam, Lodge is the one caught in the crossfire.
It’s a brutal commentary on how the most vulnerable people are used as pawns by both the "progressive" and "conservative" sides of the political aisle. Collins plays this with a sort of resigned grace. He’s not a hero. He’s just a man trying to exist in a world that has decided he doesn’t matter.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Character
I’ve seen a few threads on Reddit where people complain that Lodge didn't get enough screen time. "Why hire an actor of that caliber just to have him haunt the background?"
That’s the point.
Lodge is the conscience that Eddington ignores. If he were front and center, the movie wouldn’t work. He needs to be the guy you almost miss, because that’s how society treats people like him. His absence from the main trailers was a deliberate choice by A24 to keep the mystery of his fate intact. If you’ve seen the movie, you know that his "disappearance" is the turning point that leads to the explosive, 80s-action-movie-style finale.
Real Talk: The Production Side
Filming in New Mexico wasn’t just a stylistic choice for Aster; it was a homecoming. He grew up there. He hired over 300 locals. You can feel that in the scenes Collins is in. There’s a specific kind of high-desert grit that you can’t fake on a soundstage in Atlanta.
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Collins, who has Mexican and German roots, fits into this landscape perfectly. He looks like he’s been baked by that New Mexico sun for decades. It makes the conflict with the "outsider" characters—like the tech-friendly mayor or the radicalized influencers—feel much more visceral.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Filmmakers
If you’re a fan of Clifton Collins Jr. or just getting into Ari Aster’s filmography, here is how you should approach Eddington:
- Watch the Background: On your second viewing, don't watch Joaquin Phoenix. Watch the peripheral characters. Notice where Lodge is standing in the wide shots. It recontextualizes the entire political struggle of the town.
- Research the "Neo-Western": This isn't John Wayne. This is the new wave of Westerns that look at the frontier as a place of psychological decay rather than expansion. Compare Collins' performance here to his role in Transpecos.
- Track the A24 Trajectory: A24 is moving away from "pure horror" into this weird, hybrid social satire. Eddington is the blueprint for where they are going in 2026 and beyond.
- Appreciate the Sound Design: Bobby Krlic (the genius behind the Midsommar score) did the music here. There are specific motifs associated with Lodge that are incredibly subtle—low, vibrating tones that signal the town's impending doom before the characters even realize it.
The film might have divided critics at Cannes—some found the COVID-era politics too "on the nose"—but everyone seems to agree that the ensemble cast is top-tier. Clifton Collins Jr. remains one of those actors who makes everyone around him better. In a movie filled with loud voices and literal explosions, his quiet, flickering presence as Lodge is what actually stays with you.
If you haven't seen it yet, go in with an open mind. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it’s deeply uncomfortable. But watching a master like Collins work in such a specific, grounded role is worth the price of admission alone.
Next Steps for the Reader:
Check out the filmography of Clifton Collins Jr. starting with his award-winning turn in Jockey (2021) to see the range he brings to Eddington. If you've already seen the film, look for the "making of" featurettes on the physical release, which detail how Aster worked with local New Mexican actors to build the world of the Sevilla County Sheriff’s Office.