I had been keeping up with Beau Is Afraid leading up to its release. I am a big fan of Midsommar and Hereditary which were done by the writer and director of Beau Is Afraid, Ari Aster. Add to this the fact that Joaquin Phoenix was the lead and there was a fun-looking ensemble cast, it had all the makings of something that I should love.
How to Download Beau Is Afraid
Sometime after its theatrical release (14 April 2023) you will be able to download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review.
The Movie Review
Rather than being a straight-up horror like the two I just mentioned, Beau Is Afraid is described as a “tragicomedy horror movie” which I will admit was a term I had never heard before until I started getting interested in this. It kind of makes sense, the movie has elements of horror, comedy, and tragedy. However, if I am being honest, I found it to be weird for the sake of being weird.
I can completely see why some people will say that Beau Is Afraid is brilliant and a masterpiece, but I would be lying if I said that I did. The wife and I got to go to a screening of this at our theatre and once it ended we were both like, what the heck was that we just watched?
This movie is so strange, I am kind of struggling with how to describe it to you. Joaquin Phoenix plays Beau, Beau is one very strange guy with severe anxiety issues. He suffers from paranoia, needs special medicine, and has a super odd relationship with his domineering mother, Mona who is rich and famous.
Mona passes away and the plot of the movie is Beau trying to make his way home for the funeral. Now, the amount of weird stuff that happens to Beau is just insane. It is one of the craziest and trippiest road trip movies that you will ever see. I am torn on what to say as I do not want to spoil it for you.
He has to deal with crazy homeless people, he ends up staying with a weird family, he ends up lost in the woods, and much more. It is like he goes from one weird situation to the next and it is just a very wild ride. I will say that I was never once bored while watching this movie, that is for sure.
What I have described may not sound weird, but the execution of these events is just crazy! This movie is incredibly graphic so you need to be warned about that and then there is the ending. This ending is one of the weirdest, craziest, and just flat-out disturbing endings that I have ever seen in a movie, yet it also managed to be hilarious as well!
I was glad that I made the effort to watch this in the theatre, it is always fun to get to see a movie the week before it is officially released. I can also see why those who love this movie, really love it. For me, with this first viewing, it just did not click and as I said, it felt like it was trying way too hard to be random and weird. It is the kind of movie that I will certainly watch again as I have a feeling, I could like it more the second time around.
