Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal face off in "Eddington." Credit: A24 Comedy is tragedy plus time. There may be a day when critics look back on Ari Aster's COVID-19 comedy Eddington with kinder eyes.

Paul Haggis’ Crash (2004) is a shallow film; its characters nothing more than reductive racial tropes colliding into and screaming epithets at one another. Somehow, the film defied the odds and beat out the heavily favored Brokeback Mountain to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

Ari Aster's “Eddington,” appropriately enough, has been divisive. Since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Aster’s film has one of the most polarizing releases of the year.