Artistically classic horror Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryn, Parker Posey, Nathan Lane, Armen Nahapetian RATING: 4/5 Ari ...
Artistically classic horror
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryn, Parker Posey, Nathan Lane, Armen Nahapetian
RATING: 4/5
Ari Aster, in an interview back in 2019, said
that for his next film, he wanted to make a four-hour nightmarish comedy. Beau
is Afraid is not four hours long, but it matches the description of what he
wanted the film to be. It’s both funny and horrifying in equal parts. Aster
tackles themes he’s familiar with once again - family issues and grief and
guilt, and it’s the best he’s ever done. Extremely artistic, almost like Peter
Greenaway’s ‘The Cook, The 'Thief, His Wife and Her Lover’ in how artificial it
looks and feels, Aster has created a genuine horror film, scarier and more anxiety-inducing.
One of the most distressing and horrifying films, Beau is Afraid will well go
on to become a classic.
Aster’s most decisive film to date, Beau is
Afraid isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Beau is Afraid is about
guilt and mommy issues and what it means to be unconditionally loved and not
being and not wanting to do that to the same person feels like.
Its
plot revolves around the mild-mannered paranoid Beau who embarks on a surreal
odyssey to get home to attend his mother's funeral, facing his greatest fears
along the way.
The paranoia - from the first scene itself -
seeps out of the screen and enters your mind. None of the background characters
seem to be extras, everybody seems to be a person which is a rarity in films.
Aster leaves no room for error. He fills each
shot with so much detail that it’ll be difficult to understand everything in
one viewing much like his previous two features. The cinematography is
excellent and so is the sound design. The performances are excellent, especially
Joaquin Phoenix, who completely delves into the psyche of the character and
delivers a performance par excellence.
Beau is Afraid is a dense film that requires multiple viewings to fully grasp and that’s one of the reasons that makes it great.
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