Technically, Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), the sheriff of Eddington, New Mexico, has not actually been diagnosed, at least not to his face. Over the course of the movie’s second half, we see him accumulate symptoms,

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. — Past a petrified mastodon skull and display cases of glittering gypsum and halite, Ari Aster is gesturing to a room where, conjuring a bit of movie magic, he made Joaquin Phoenix fall through a roof, onto the bones of Geronimo.

If you look up and revisit the list of names mentioned in the first paragraph, I think it’s fair to say that he is regularly successful in looking for filmmakers with unique vision. There are a lot of auteurs who have successfully made movies that are instantly identifiable via their special signatures and flairs.

Aster shot the film, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, in New Mexico but is coming to Texas in the fall for a new project aimed at lifting up emerging filmmakers.

Heredity” and “Midsommar” director Ari Aster takes on contemporary America in “Eddington,” in theaters Friday.