Beau Is Afraid (2023) Movie Review

Beau is Afraid is a story of an neurotic and anxiety-ridden civilian who experiences terrible tragedies that result in a dramatic, hilarious, and terrifying collapse of his life. Beau (Juaquin Phoenix), his quest, and the film are divided into three or four sections. In this review, I propose that each section addresses a different psychological phenomena that Beau suffers from day to day.

The first is his independent home life. It is a big and increasingly ominous event for Beau to go home and visit his Mother. The first chapter chaotically crecendoes in cleverly placed charades that include egregious stalking from homeless people (An element that could be interpreted as insulting), false accusations from neighbors, mysterious thrives, and an aggravated intensity from strangers that Aster fans will surely recognize.

Beau is horrified to hear that his mother has died amidst his return home to see her. A chandelier has fallen on her head, and Beau receives a call from a sole witness (the UPS Man). Beau then begins to scramble for help until he is stabbed by a serial killer, and knocked into a coma by colliding with a car. Beau is then brought to the driver's home. Coincidentally the driver is a surgeon capable of giving quality medical attention.

Beau can't remember if his Mother really died, and the series of unfortunate events are starting to escalate on a level that makes Murphys law seem truly tame. Amidst chapter 2, a turbulent (and possibly drug induced) dream path surrealism starts to emerge. Disaster strikes in Beaus interim homestead, and mysterious foresight images start to flash.

Themes of deep introversion, obsessive and sentimental fantasies and memories of cruelty from family are at play here. By the end of Chapter 2, The film has a drastic change in style that is nervously syndromatic.

The film was once teased as Dissapointment Blvd. to protect content in the production process. Ironically, it could have been a more fitting title than Beau Is Afraid. The disappointment Beau experiences in Ch. 2 is brutal. Again, enough to make Murphys law look like a psychlothymic low. As soon as we think Beau might be set to go to his Mother's funeral, all hell breaks loose. Beau is dettered unwillingly from his path by drug abusing teenage girls, PTSD afflicted bullies, Truman show esque plot twists, and perhaps the films most disturbing scene that entails Beau being framed for the suicide of his rescuers daughter.

If the film doesn't encapsulate paranoid terror sufficiently enough in Ch. 2, then Ch. 3 makes up for any lack of bizarre, cerebral, terror. Ch. 3 is a comatose, psychological, delusional, and eeriely existential freak show that expounds upon the experimental and psychedelic sides of Hereditary and Midsommar.

Ch. 3 seems very imaginary, but it also parks the most literal and concisely delivered meanings in the entirety of the film. Ch. 3 addresses feminine dominance and manipulative abuse. The harsh vindication of nepotism and gaslighting that makes one question the origin of such problems.

Aster intelligently blurs the lines of misogyny and femdom in a supercharged nightmare scenario of matriarchal favoritism, malpractice, and greed.

Ch. 3 also contains hilarity and unnerving hysteria from its characters. Yet we are progressively delved into enough major themes now that some of the comedy has clear symbolic meaning.

Ch. 3 may suffer from an overzealous attempt at too many themes. We're experiencing flashback, hereditary diseases, and more. Beau is Afraid is ambitious and experimental, the film achieves an astuteness to prominent classics and retains its own originality. It bravely and controversially explores untapped themes, and further strengthens the filmography of Ari Aster.