Director: Ari Aster
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hayley Squires, Denis Ménochet, Kylie Rogers, Parker Posey, Patti LuPone  
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 179 mins

Beau Is Afraid is the new film by Ari Aster, who’s two-for-two with horror films Hereditary and Midsommar. Both films demonstrated Aster as an auteur on top of his craft in the horror genre, impressing with their social commentary and disturbing yet metaphorical storytelling, eschewing mechanical jump scares. While Aster’s third effort may be hard to pigeonhole into a genre – it has surreal and tragicomic elements – the director certainly hasn’t completely departed from horror. The film follows the mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) who lives alone in what seems to be an overly poverty-stricken city. Beau is meant to be catching a flight to see his mother, Mona (Patti LuPone), but misses his plane due to some bizarre circumstances and the film follows his surreal odyssey to get there. 

Beau Is Afraid is easily the most confounding cinematic experience I have had in quite some time. It’s a fiercely original effort – a sprawling, paranoia-inducing epic with more than its fair share of Kafka-inspired horror infused with Charlie Kaufman surrealism and a dose of Darren Aronofsky’s mother!. As you’d expect from an Ari Aster film, it’s overflowing in symbolism and requires multiple viewings to better understand its meaning. This isn’t a film that will ever be truly understood, but after two viewings, there is a ton to unpack. A beautiful animated sequence towards the close of the film’s second act is particularly affecting

It seemed to me as if two storylines were going to converge in the third act, but the finale didn’t play to my expectations at all. In my opinion, this is a filmic experience of what it means to have anxiety, with Aster’s heightened portrayal of reality. The heights in how Aster portrays Beau’s city setting is utterly nightmarish, supported by Bobby Krlic’s satisfyingly sickly score. Aster’s regular cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski’s moody cinematography is stunning, an individual once again at the top of his game. 

Joaquin Phoenix is phenomenal as Beau, effortlessly flitting between being pathetic  the line between pathetic – crazed emotions, stunts, panic, confusion. While this is Phoenix’s film, there’s some great supporting performances too. Amy Ryan and Nathan Lane are both sickly sweet as a couple who house Beau in one of his episodes and I’m sure both Armen Nahapetian and Julia Antonelli, who play younger versions of two characters have a fruitful career ahead of them. 

Beau Is Afraid is quite the filmic assault on the senses and is another home run for Aster, whose transposed his proven skill in the horror genre to surreal cinema. It’s undoubtedly the most ambitious and challenging film of the year and frankly, a miracle that A24 were happy to finance the film and had this level of trust in Aster. Many will take umbrage with Beau Is Afraid and dismiss it as self-indulgent, but for most of its three hour run time, I was utterly transfixed.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Excellent)