Pedro Pascal plays Mayor Ted Garcia in Ari Aster’s new movie Eddington, which just premiered at Cannes. His character is like this COVID-conscious mayor running against Joaquin Phoenix’s sheriff in a totally wild, pandemic-era New Mexico town. The whole movie is packed with big political stuff, like conspiracy theories and protests after George Floyd’s murder, so Pedro actually gets to act out some serious drama. I read he called Aster a genius and seemed pretty hyped to be in it.

But, not everybody was obsessed with the film. Eddington got a five-minute standing ovation in Cannes but only hit about 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, and some critics thought it was kind of a letdown. One even called it a slog, saying it was trying too hard to be both darkly funny and suspenseful but didn’t really pull it off. If you ask me, I’d totally still watch it, just for the cast alone—it’s like Pedro, Joaquin Phoenix, and Emma Stone all in one movie. Even if it’s not a hit with everyone, that lineup is too good to skip.