Movie Review: "Beau Is Afraid" (2023)

Beau Is Afraid Movie Review

Written by Stuart D. Monroe

Released by A24

Written and Directed by Ari Aster

2023, 179 minutes, Rated R

Released on April 21st, 2023

Starring:

Joaquin Phoenix as Beau Wassermann

Patti LuPone as Mona Wassermann

Amy Ryan as Grace

Nathan Lane as Roger

Denis Ménochet as Jeeves

Kylie Rogers as Toni

Parker Posey as Elaine Bray

Stephen McKinley Henderson as Therapist

Julian Richings as Strange Man

Bill Hader as UPS Guy

Review:

I used to think I was a “mama’s boy”. Raised by a single mother (and various other women), my life was run by women growing up. I’ve also been legitimately happily married (with an amazing daughter) for twenty-eight years. So, yeah…I know a thing or two about all things motherly. It took Ari Aster’s new film, Beau Is Afraid, to show me that I didn’t know a goddamn thing.

Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix; Joker) is the ultimate mama’s boy, a shrinking and cringing agoraphobe with an on-call therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson; Lincoln) living in a slum studio apartment in what appears to be the worst neighborhood anywhere in the damn world. It’s the eve of his father’s death anniversary, and he is preparing to take a long overdue visit to his mother, Mona (Patti LuPone; Witness). It’s only six hours away, after all. It should be a simple task, but Beau isn’t a simple man. His trouble starts with keys stolen right out of his front door and soon progresses to being stabbed and hit by a truck, and that’s all before he can even get out of his own neighborhood! When his mother dies one of the nuttiest deaths this side of Looney Tunes, Beau realizes he has no choice but to face all his fears and go home to Mom one last time.

Beau Is Afraid is easily Ari Aster’s most divisive film to date, and it bears the marks of its predecessors (Midsommar, Hereditary) with pride. You also know that despite its absurdity (and it goes to some utterly bonkers places and scenarios), it’s a deeply personal film with many Mommy issues. I dare say there’s never been a more Oedipal film made; at least, I can’t think of one. I hope Ari Aster’s mother didn’t lock him in an attic in his childhood, but at this point, it seems clear that it’s at least a distinct possibility. To say there’s a lot to unpack would be the understatement of the year.

And I’m here for it. Every frame makes its mark on you in some way, be it with stellar cinematography, zany visual effects, unflinching violence highlighted by first-rate SFX, surprising emotional depth, or killer performances. Joaquin Phoenix is a mumbling, screaming, fleeing mess in the best way possible, and the ensemble cast all hit it hard, providing memorable characters and moments throughout the three-hour runtime.

Yes, I said three hours.

I’d say three hours is too long (and it is), but I honestly can’t think of what you’d cut. It’s all so singularly, disturbingly gorgeous that it makes the brutal truths and uncomfortable situations all the more palatable. It also doesn’t hurt that Beau Is Afraid is, at times, riotously funny. It’s absurdity piled onto absurdity that doesn’t feel half as absurd as it should thanks to some universal themes and dark truths left festering in your head. Equal parts drama, comedy, and horror, Beau Is Afraid deals with mental illness and maternal codependency in one of the most uniquely insane ways you’re likely to ever see.

Seriously, you can tell Ari Aster has thought about this film for a long, long time.

Beau Is Afraid is a psychosexual mindfuck laden with complex and often uncomfortable themes, a film will surely fall into the “love it or hate it” category. The responses and opinions I overheard in the mostly packed IMAX theater had no in-between; it was all or nothing. That’s what happens when going this hard in the paint, though. The responses will be understandably extreme.

If you need to be sold further, just know that there is a sex scene and an attic monster straight out of a Troma film. Mixing high art with a significant budget and a Tromatic sensibility? Winner winner, chicken dinner.

Grade:

5.0 out of 5.0 stars