The two face off in Ari Aster's 'Eddington'—a heightened black comedy neo-western that finds them re-living 2020, battling anxiety, and Pascal "smacking the sh*t out of" Phoenix.

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.

Ari Aster’s Eddington is a unique take that will hold your attention and give you some stuff to think about, but probably bit off more than it had to.