In this desert setting, with characters both buffoonish and evil at once, there’s a distinctly Coen brothers slant to “Eddington.”

Eddington, the latest film from Hereditary director Ari Aster, is a dark comedy about COVID-fueled chaos in a fictional New Mexico town. The film wades into hot-button topics regarding police brutality, the Black Lives Matter movement, AI investment, and mask mandates, among others. Ari Aster is asking for trouble with Eddington.

The director’s latest is a none-too-subtle depiction of Covid hysteria, racial justice protests, isolation, and the rottenness of social media—and how they combine to rip apart the fabric of a small town.