Chelsea Is Afraid
In depth review of Ari Aster's latest film - Beau is Afraid
Warning: SPOILERS
Beau is Afraid is the highly anticipated film by Ari Aster, released in theatres in April 2023. After some massive block buster films from the directer, like Hereditary and Midsommar; Beau is Afraid has had viewers lining up to see what the master of horror had in store for us next. If you are a true fan of Ari Aster's work, you will be delighted to know that the film follows the character Beau Wassermann (played by Joaquin Phoenix) through his wild experiences for an entire 2 hours and 59 minutes. If you are a horror fan just looking for a quick spook, this may not be the film for you.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/joaquin-phoenix-tries-hard-but-can-t-save-beau-is-afraid-20230418-p5d1f8.html
The first scene shows us an introductory shot of Beau being born - quite literally exiting his mothers womb, from the perspective of Beau himself. The screen shows complete darkness, and then gradually comes into the light as you can hear beau's mother screaming, and nurses hurry around her to try and calm her down. Beau does not cry at first, to which his panicked mother yells "What is wrong with him?!". A doctor smacks him to life and you hear him finally let out a frightened cry. This sets the tone of the entire movie as you learn about Beau's extreme anxiety, paranoia, attachment issues, and even hints schizophrenia.
The film predominantly follows Beau in his middle aged years, living in a small apartment in New York, however, there is no confirmation whether it is actually a real place. This adds to the theme of experiencing the world through Beau's scattered and delusional perspective. The second shot of the film shows us Beau in his therapist's office, discussing his trip to see his mother, Mona Wassermann (played by Zoe Lister Jones and Patti LuPone), and you can tell that he is visibly anxious about it. We then see Beau heading back to his apartment, where Aster has blocked a perfectly chaotic set, filled with criminals, dead bodies, gruesome crimes taking place in broad daylight, buskers, and brightly dressed escorts. Beau frantically runs and weaves through the chaos to get back to the "safety" of his apartment building, which is also riddled with graffiti, broken glass and junkies. In this scene we learn that Beau is not comfortable anywhere, not even in his own home. The confusion of this shot perfectly prepares us for the rest of the film; It introduces the chaos and fear that Beau experiences in his life, and what we will be experiencing for the next 2.5 hours.
We discover fairly quickly through dialogue between Beau and his mother that, ultimately, the movie is about the unhealthy attachment between them, and how this has affected Beau in his adult life. In short, Beau is meant to catch a flight to visit Mona, however, his apartment keys are stolen on his way to the airport and he decides to stay home and sort it out. Naturally, most mothers would be quite supportive of this responsible decision made by their middle aged child, however, Mona expresses her disdain by calling Beau a liar and claiming that he doesn't love her anymore. Beau immediately reacts to these manipulative comments and we follow him on his journey across the country to get to his mother and make her feel better. We also learn through Beau's flashbacks, that Mona was a very wealthy and successful business woman who would emotionally abuse Beau, as well as attempting to isolate him from the rest of the world. Shortly after the uncomfortable phone conversation between mother and son, Beau receives another phone call explaining that Mona had died in a horrific accident in her home. Not only does this obviously upset Beau, but the weight of his last conversation he had with his mother hangs in the air, and this motivates him even more to get to his home town and say his goodbyes. On his journey, Beau encounters all kinds of deranged characters and events, including drug use, kidnapping, suicide, and murder; as if the whole world wanted to prevent him from fulfilling his mother's dying wish and make him suffer in his own guilt.
Source: Julia Glassman, 2023. https://www.themarysue.com/audience-reactions-to-beau-is-afraid-are-as-surreal-as-the-movie-itself/
What I love about this film is that it begins just like any other horror movie, where you are thrown into a fragment of a person's life that contains horrific events, and you gradually learn through dialogue and common themes that there is a reason why the events are happening, and there is a resolution around the corner - the classic horror film blueprint. The difference with Astor's Beau is Afraid, is that it does not seem to follow this blueprint at all. Astor keeps his audience on the edge of their seat as they wait for an explanation... and it never comes. The film is ultimately just scene after scene of Beau being terrified and the audience being confused.
No one will know what was going on inside Ari Aster's mind as he was writing this comedy horror masterpiece, however he spoke to Bloody Disgusting in April 2023 for the film's release and explained that a lot of the crew would ask him, "Are you sure you want to do this?". Ari replied "Don't make me think, just do it" (https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3757739/beau-is-afraid-review-ari-asters-latest-is-a-surreal-odyssey/). This loose 'go for it' attitude is very clearly represented in the film with each scene containing something new to shock the audience. For the most part you really can't decipher if what you are seeing is real, or if it is one of Beau's paranoid hallucinations.
This take on mental illness and attachment theory is quite impressive, because, although the audience is confused for 99% of the film, so is Beau. This give's us the opportunity to see the world through his eyes exactly as he is seeing it, and even experience the fear and anxiety that he is feeling. Ari does not nurture his audience or sugar coat the events; they are raw, uncomfortable, and graphic.
In the end, Beau somehow finds himself floating in a small tin boat, in a cave, surrounded by an auditorium of his family, friends and peers. In this scene, his mother and her lawyer are standing on a podium, telling everybody in the audience what Beau has done wrong in his life, including being ungrateful, weak and, cowardly. Ultimately, Beau is yanked under by the tin boat and drowns in the water as everyone in the audience leaves the auditorium looking un-phased. A perfect metaphor for Beau's guilt and shame about his mother finally swallowing him up and killing him.
Beau is Afraid shocked me, surprised me and at times made me feel ill, but over all, it did not disappoint. Beau was in-fact afraid for the entirety of the film, and to be completely honest, so was I.
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