When Ari Aster announced a new movie with Joaquin Phoenix in 2021, fans were marking their calendars. The director of Hereditary and Midsommar collaborating with the Joker. The hype was crazy for film maniacs. Initially titled Disappointment Blvd., it eventually became Beau Is Afraid. The basic synopsis is that an anxious man named Beau sets off to see his mother. Literally.

When the movie was released, however, the A24 horror film only made $11 million on an approximate budget of $35 million. My favourite theatre chain (Landmark Cinemas – they got the best seats ever) did not even show the movie (at least in Surrey and New Westminister.) I was shocked the film did not get the spotlight it deserved. I mean, everyone basically watched Hereditary and Joker (unless you’re a Marvel fan.) How did it become a box office bomb? Because Super Mario Bros. was attracting audiences at the time?

(Actually, that does make sense now that I put it into words – the PG-rated Nintendo-based movie was released exactly two weeks earlier than Beau Is Afraid, which was R-rated. Mario made over a billion dollars. And Evil Dead Rise was released on the same day.)

Anyway, I watched it with two of my friends in downtown. It was a long movie too because it was clocking about three hours. But the film didn’t feel like that long to me because the scenes were constantly shifting. Things were happening quickly, yet had lingering impacts. But what did I feel about the movie?

I have exactly five words to sum up my review of Beau. WHAT. WAS. ARI. ASTER. ON. Aster did say in an interview that his film is like “a Jewish Lord of the Rings, but just going to his mom’s house,” and as “if you pumped a 10-year-old full of Zoloft, and [had] him get your groceries.” I don’t think the film could be compared to the One Ring trilogy, except for its runtime.

https://x.com/BeauIsAfraidMov/status/1678804078942404608?s=20

“Insane” is a light word for this movie. My Letterboxd account says I’ve watched 754 movies so far, but none could top this bizarreness. I can’t explain how crazy this movie is without spoiling, but imagine you’re having a psychedelic dream of Joaquin Phoenix trying to reach his mother in abnormal horror-comedy scenarios. And you keep asking yourself, “Is this real??” That’s the movie for you. It does have tons of symbolism, but I couldn’t decipher any of them. Let me just say that logic doesn’t exist in the film.

I liked it for its arthouse-y ambition, incredible acting from Joaquin (as always), and the unpredictable storyline. For me, it’s my favourite film among Ari Aster’s filmography. I strongly recommend watching the movie and sharing your experience. But I just know you will say it’s the weirdest movie you’ve ever watched. Same bro, same. But at least it’s a masterpiece.