Continuing a look at my favorite movie music scenes of 2025…
Today’s clip was an easy choice for this series, another one of those moments that I mentally pencilled in as soon as I saw it in the theater.
The scene comes about halfway through Ari Aster’s Eddington, a bracing and darkly funny portrait of America during Covid. This was one of last year’s best films, and one I think hit too close to home for a lot of people and ended up outside of the awards conversation as a result.
In this scene, small-town sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) confronts mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) at a campaign fundraiser. The two men are at odds politically and personally, and Cross has thrown his hat into the mayor’s race in an escalation of their feud. Now he’s using the power of his badge to disrupt the party due to a noise complaint.
Cross enters the party in a long unbroken take, Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ rising in the sound mix as he gets closer to the speakers. When he faces off with Garcia, the interaction doesn’t go as he planned, and the repercussions of his humiliation will shape the events of the rest of the film.
It’s a fascinating and gripping scene, both as a feat of filmmaking and for how it advances both the character arcs and the plot.
[Note: You have to click through to watch the scene on YouTube]
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper-thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from cavin’ in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there’s still a chance for you?
‘Cause there’s a spark in you
[Pre-Chorus]
You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July
[Chorus]
‘Cause baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go, “Ah, ah, ah”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ’em go, “Ah, ah, ah”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe
[Verse 2]
You don’t have to feel like a waste of space
You’re original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow
Maybe a reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it’s time, you’ll know
[Pre-Chorus]
You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July
[Chorus]
‘Cause baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go, “Ah, ah, ah”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ’em go, “Ah, ah, ah”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe
[Bridge]
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It’s always been inside of you, you, you
And now it’s time to let it throu-ou-ough
[Chorus]
‘Cause baby, you’re a firework
Come on show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go, “Ah, ah, ah,”
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ’em go, “Ah, ah, ah”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe
[Outro]
“Boom, boom, boom”
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
“Boom, boom, boom”
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Meet Me In Montauk 