For those of us who lived through May of 2020, it’s probably not a time we want to revisit eagerly. We were living in the midst of a pandemic. There was great Civil unrest. And people were at odds all over the country.

In the new film Eddington, from director Ari Aster, we are transported back to that tense and fractured time. The film, from A24, opened in theaters on Friday. It’s set in a small New Mexico town where, though the town is dying, things have reached a fevered pitch.

We follow Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), who has been part of the law enforcement community for years, succeeding to his position after the death of his father-in-law. He’s not an impressive man, and he has a fractured marriage to Louise (Emma Stone), who is mired in trauma. Some of that relates to a bad relationship years earlier with Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), now the mayor.

All that creates strain for Joe and Ted. They don’t like each other, and they don’t see eye-to-eye. Ted is a political climber, trying to push for projects that come from other levels of the government. Joe is a simple man who doesn’t believe in COVID and believes that any forced conditions are government over-reach. This is one of many ways he and Ted differ.

Soon, pushed to a breaking point, Joe runs for Mayor. But with his personal life in shambles, and nationwide protests taking over Eddington, tensions run even higher.

Like most people, I don’t have fond memories of the Spring and Summer of 2020. Doubtless, this will dredge up some painful memories. That’s especially true if you lost a loved one during that time or were a victim of brutality surrounding the protests that erupted after the death of George Floyd. This film brings those events to life in a real way that takes you right back to that time.

But it soon becomes clear Aster isn’t aiming to make some kind of definitive statement about these varying ideologies. No, this is a fictional story that wants to explore the way a man—in this case Joe—spirals out of control as the events around him descend into chaos. And that part of the story, at times, soars.

Phoenix gives a great lead performance. He is the center of this film with the rest of the cast—Stone, Pascal, and Austin Butler, among them—playing a supporting role. This is about Joe and it’s about the way he loses himself along the way. It’s a fascinating story that plays out in some interesting ways. I especially enjoyed the action sequence in the final act.

That being said, it’s a rough watch. The COVID and protest pieces leave a bad taste in my mouth, especially as they felt somewhat disconnected from what becomes more of a personal breakdown for Joe. From that standpoint, it makes sense that some have loved the film, and some have been turned off.

For my part, I thought the craft and the lead performance were great. There are some incredibly well shot sequences. But the overall arc of the film leaves me uneasy.

Eddington is now playing nationwide.

Matthew Fox is a graduate of the Radio, Television and Film program at Biola University, and a giant nerd. He spends his free time watching movies, TV, and obsessing about football. He is a member of the FSWA. You can find him @knighthawk7734 on Twitter and as co-host of the Fantasy Football Roundtable Podcast.