THE PREMISE:

"Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home." 

OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

What is happening? How much time is left in this thing? Wait…is that Bill Hader? These are just a few of the many questions I found myself asking during Beau Is Afraid – Ari Aster’s oedipally-laced, Gulliver’s Travels-esque descent into madness. To say my feelings on this film are complicated would be an understatement. It’s been a while since a movie has left me feeling both thoroughly impressed and utterly annoyed at the same time. 

The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Beau, a middle-aged man with serious mommy issues. It takes the audience on a three-hour, non-linear journey through his life. It’s billed as a “horror-comedy,” though it feels more like a surrealist psychological thriller than anything else. 

Divided into quadrants, the film starts off feeling like a very dark episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Beau, anxiously awaiting a trip home to visit his mother, misses his flight due to a series of bizarre and unbelievable circumstances. I cannot stress enough how fantastic the first 45 minutes of this film are; the slow and steady tension building coupled with some of the most spellbinding cinematography I’ve seen all year are exquisite and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I left the theater. 

Act two brings us to a hellish Suburbia, in which Beau finds himself in the care of a Stepford-coded family after being hit by a car. Our protagonist is now on a grievous mission after learning his mother has died in a tragic chandelier-falling-on-the-head accident. It’s at this point the film really starts to drag, but is held together by strong comedic performances from Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan. 

As Beau descends deeper into paranoia we are thrust into the third act; one in which he is taken on a fantastical journey of childlike wonder. It’s here that we are presented with a stage performance of his life that drags on for what feels like an eternity. It’s also at this point (about two hours in) that I took a peek at my phone to see what time it was. Still an hour to go. Sigh.

Act four brings us to Beau’s mother’s house. The film finally picks up pace here a bit, with Beau meeting up with his teenage love, played by Parker Posey. I won’t spoil anything. I will just say their encounter is… memorable. The film culminates with Beau making a discovery in his mother’s attic that is possibly the weirdest thing I’ve seen on the big screen (ever?) and left me with my mouth agape. 

Reader, Beau Is Afraid is a lot. To truly unpack every detail would take more time than I’ve got in a day. It is beautiful, funny, insane, excruciatingly slow, and concludes with both a bang AND a whimper. It’s been a while since I’ve been so divided about a movie. I don’t know that I want to watch it again, but I respect the fact that in 2023, a film like this has the gall to exist. The key to enjoying it is to leave expectations at the door. There’s no moral here, and no satisfying conclusion. Just buckle up and get ready for a ride.