A band releasing the exact same style of music over and over eventually grows boring. Whether their experiments hit or miss, the best musicians are continually mixing things up. The same goes for filmmakers, and any creator, really.
Which makes us very curious about Beau is Afraid, the third feature film effort from Hereditary and Midsommar writer-director Ari Aster. While there are certainly nightmarish elements present in the trailer, Beau is Afraid isn’t a straight-up, slow-burn horror film like Aster’s previous work. In fact, judging by the trailer below, this may be a very difficult film to categorise. Dark, surreal comedy maybe?
The apparent genre fluidity and idiosyncrasy of Beau is Afraid makes a bit more sense when you learn that it is produced and distributed by A24, the film company that also released Hereditary and Midsommar, along with the likes of Ex Machina, Moonlight, The Green Knight, Men, The Lighthouse, X and a lot more other ambitious and arty indie films.
A24 also produced this year’s big Academy Award winner Everything Everywhere All at Once – though Beau is Afraid looks even wilder and more unpredictable than that multiverse-spanning action comedy drama. Initially described as “A decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time,” the film’s trailer paints a very different picture of Beau is Afraid. Although, it does look like it will cover the title character (played by Joaquin Phoenix) from childhood to old age.
Rather, Beau is Afraid centres on a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man whose attempts to get home to his overbearing mother (Patti LuPone) send him on a bizarre but epic odyssey – during which he must confront his darkest fears. “Epic odyssey” seems to be an apt description as Beau is Afraid is reportedly 3 hours long (according to IndieWire) and ranks among A24’s most expensive releases, with a budget of $40–50 million. Also in the cast are Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Parker Posey, for the record.
Honestly, Beau is Afraid may be too offbeat for a lot of viewers to handle, especially with Aster describing his 10 year+ labour of love in a new First Look Featurette in a supremely bonkers way: “It’s like a Jewish Lord of the Rings, but he’s just going to his mom’s house. I want to put you in the experience of being a loser.” That said, Aster has a special gift for taking already talented actors, like Toni Collette and Florence Pugh, and providing them with a platform to reach new career heights. An Aster-Phoenix pairing could be something truly special.
Beau is Afraid releases in cinemas, including in South Africa, on 21 April.