Freudian Slip

Movies: Beau is Afraid

Between Skinamarink, Infinity Pool, are Ari Aster's latest film, Beau is Afraid, we are getting some wild shit in theatres these days and I. Am. Loving. It.

After the success of Hereditary and Midsommar, horror buffs were waiting with bated breath for Ari Aster's next film. But as images and information about the film started coming out, it was hard to tell exactly what this movie was going to be about. We knew it would be a three hour long film starring Joaquin Phoenix and that was about it (or, at least, the extent to which I knew about it going in).

Beau is Afraid has been categorized as a "horror-comedy", but personally I would describe it as a surrealist comedy where horrific things happen. The film is about a man, Beau Wasserman (Phoenix being very Phoenix-y), who suffers from intense, chronic anxiety. The opening scene is Beau meeting with his therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and airing concerns that he might have stomach cancer after swallowing some mouthwash by accident.

But unlike most people who suffer from chronic anxiety, Beau actually lives in a world in which his worst fears come true all the time. Beau lives in a shady neighborhood where he has to dodge knife-wielding naked men and violent skinheads just to get to his apartment. The apartment, by the way, is home to brown recluse spiders and the water gets turned off right after Beau takes anxiety meds that his therapist warns MUST be taken with water. When Beau fearfully leaves his apartment to buy a bottle of water, he comes up ten cents short and the bodega owner screams that he will call the police on him...etc etc. Basically, the movie is like "what if all the dumb shit you worry about actually came true all at once?"

Beau ends up on a journey to visit his overbearing mother, Mona (played in flashbacks by Zoe Lister-Jones and in present day by Patti LuPone). Of course, this journey is beset with obstacles, including Beau being hit by a car and having to recuperate at a couples' home. The couple, played by Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan, serve to further confuse and frighten Beau, as does their aggressive teenage daughter. Again, nothing is easy for Beau and when tragedy that has nothing to do with him strikes, he is blamed for it and forced to run away. That's another theme of the movie: guilt. Especially too much guilt for small things or things that aren't actually your fault.

Beau is Afraid leans into being outrageous and over-the-top. It would be annoying if the film wasn't so damn funny. The first hour has the most jokes and visual gags-per-minute, but depending on how dark and weird your sense of humor is, there are laughs to be had all the way until the bitter end of this fucked up Freudian nightmare. Aster showed off his sense of humor in Midsommar, which has some pretty funny moments in between a lot of emotionally heavy shit. He goes full-on surrealist comedy with Beau is Afraid. Some of the jokes are hidden in the production design and only visible for a few seconds of the film (for example, Beau is seen warming up a Hawaiian/Irish frozen meal from a company called O'Aloha)...and some of the jokes involve enormous testicles giant penis monsters. I'm not even kidding.

Here are a few ways I described Beau is Afraid to others:

• It's like if Wes Anderson directed a horror movie while on drugs.
• It's like a Hieronymous Bosch painting.
• It reminds me a lot of the show Big Mouth (it has: anthropomorphic genitalia, Richard Kind, Jewish fretting, etc). 

If any of that sounds like your cup of tea, you'll probably enjoy it. If you are confused or turned off by the above statements, you'll probably hate it. It's a very divisive film.

I do have some criticisms of the movie. For one thing, there is zero character growth or change. Beau is Afraid is a journey movie, where a character must travel and overcome obstacles to get to where he is going. Typically, journey movies involve spiritual changes in the main character(s) as well. Beau ends exactly as he begins: a terrified, cowed man, whimpering and blubbering for help and forgiveness. And none of the other characters are in the movie long enough to experience change. 

I was left wondering what the point was. The movie is hilarious and fun to look at, but other than that, it's pretty shallow. Sure, there is "symbolism" and "a message", but unlike Midsommar, which had some interesting things to say about how cults prey on vulnerable people and how grief can lead to profound loneliness, Beau is Afraid doesn't feel like a full meal. It feels like you ate a bag of potato chips and expected to feel full. 

I feel like the plot alone earns a C, but the production design, humor, and sheer audacity of the movie raise it to a B+. It's my third favorite Ari Aster film (not including his short films), but the worst Aster film is still better than a lot of movies. Do I recommend it? Well, you probably already know if you're the kind of person who is going to enjoy, or at least appreciate, this movie. Follow your heart. Or, in this case, your enormous, distended testicles. 

Grade: B+