Beau is Afraid demands us to see it again. It basically screams to be rewatched, paused, rewound, dissected, and examined. The brilliance of writer and director Ari Aster is that these repeat viewings will never ever help you get this movie. It's never going to click and magically make sense - going back to the well will only deepen your appreciation for the craft of the film.
Beau is a marvel of modern cinema not just for its striking visuals, alarming contemporary setting, and technical merit but for the fact that by all means it shouldn't even exist. No superheroes, not a sequel, not pushing a trending agenda or remade from a novel. How can anyone profit from such a film?!
I sound bitter or jaded. I'm not, I just want to express how deeply satisfying it is to see something so original and unique and beautiful and upsetting. Movies like this make me want to get off my ass and get on my ass. I mean to write. Like writing a movie.
Joaquin Phoenix is Beau, who may be one of the least reliable narrators I've seen in a film for a long time. The movie follows him on what should be a simple trip to visit his mother, but from what I can gather, nothing is ever simple with Beau. Beau's journey takes us through at least six vastly different settings but they feel like alien dimensions that effectively skew reality but also mash genre, medium, and technique. I think I'd like to leave the synopsis at that, the premise is set up in the opening scene and what unfolds becomes an odyssey unlike anything I've ever seen. To attempt an explanation or listing every character and actor seems like it would be a disservice.
It's gross, it's vulgar, it's profound, it's gorgeous - there is no shortage of adjectives to use here. Most importantly, it is worth your time. Beau is Afraid is a story that can only exist as a film and that's a true mark of greatness.
Beau is a marvel of modern cinema not just for its striking visuals, alarming contemporary setting, and technical merit but for the fact that by all means it shouldn't even exist. No superheroes, not a sequel, not pushing a trending agenda or remade from a novel. How can anyone profit from such a film?!
I sound bitter or jaded. I'm not, I just want to express how deeply satisfying it is to see something so original and unique and beautiful and upsetting. Movies like this make me want to get off my ass and get on my ass. I mean to write. Like writing a movie.
Joaquin Phoenix is Beau, who may be one of the least reliable narrators I've seen in a film for a long time. The movie follows him on what should be a simple trip to visit his mother, but from what I can gather, nothing is ever simple with Beau. Beau's journey takes us through at least six vastly different settings but they feel like alien dimensions that effectively skew reality but also mash genre, medium, and technique. I think I'd like to leave the synopsis at that, the premise is set up in the opening scene and what unfolds becomes an odyssey unlike anything I've ever seen. To attempt an explanation or listing every character and actor seems like it would be a disservice.
It's gross, it's vulgar, it's profound, it's gorgeous - there is no shortage of adjectives to use here. Most importantly, it is worth your time. Beau is Afraid is a story that can only exist as a film and that's a true mark of greatness.