Can filmmakers make a good pandemic film five years after the globe-changing year of 2020? The recently released Eddington makes an attempt, but focuses on a hyper local experience with a fictional small town in New Mexico. Written and directed by the critically-acclaimed Ari Aster, the movie stars Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal who face off in a mayor’s race with the backdrop of summer 2020. The film contains a jumble of topical references: debates about public health and personal freedom. Social justice in the shockwave of the George Floyd murder; hyper online media attacks and conspiracy theories; and satirical action of illegal activity for political gain. On the Buzz to talk about Eddington is Jeff Smith, a professor specializing in cinema studies in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Jeff offered his thoughts on pandemic-themed films and how they can perhaps become engines of empathy. You can listen to a full version of our conversation on wortfm.org where you’ll also find a full list of each movie we mentioned. We started our conversation chatting about films that take on matters of a global pandemic.
Here's a list of all films mentioned in the full-length conversation:
Edditington - 2025
Don’t Look Up - 2021
Outbreak - 1995
World War Z - 2013
Truman Show - 1998
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Multiple films) - 1956, 1978, 1993, 2007
28 Days Later (Multiple Films) - 2002, 2007, 2025
The Killer Inside of Me
Population 1280
Contagion - 2012
Host - 2020
Unfriended - 2014
We’re all going to the state fair - 2021 (Credit to Sarah Mae Fleming, a film PhD student at University of Wisconsin, who recommended this film to Jeff).
