Rank: 7/10

Ari Aster has a lot of credit to be given. “Midsommar” and “Hereditary” are some out-of-your-mind plot lines that leave you horrified.

But where do you even begin with “Beau is Afraid?” 

Aster’s newest passion project unfolds the world that Beau, played by Joaquin Phoenix, deals with including serious mommy issues, childhood trauma and it wouldn’t be an Aster film if it did not include a disturbing attic scene.

I think I expected a little bit of horror being that past projects have been scary, but “Beau is Afraid” is more of a suspenseful, dark comedy rollercoaster. 

I am happy Aster stepped away from a different plot from his last two films, but God does totally make a hard left into the darkest parts of his mind.

A three-hour trip that gives you the worst anxiety about Beau and what is to come. You may think what is the worst that could happen? Truly, every worst-case scenario that you may or may not be able to think of happens.

I’ll try to explain the plot as best as I can, but it might not make much sense. 

Let’s start from the beginning. Beau feels most comfortable talking to his therapist. Talking about going to see his mother and how he should be excited, but that’s the last thing he feels.

His upbringing with a woman who has gaslighted him to the extreme of making him feel like everything that goes wrong in his life is just in spite of her. Guilt eats him alive for everything. 

Late to leave for the airport, he is running to pack everything and get ready. As it feels like he’s about to make it out home free, he forgets floss. Yes, floss. He runs back in leaving his luggage and keys outside his door.

Beau lives in a scary neighborhood. Crime and poverty ridden, it’s no wonder Beau has to sprint to his complex door before being confronted by a man who is ready to kill him or panicked by strangers living on the street making their way to invade his apartment. Oh, and don’t forget about the man that is just spiderman-style holding himself up above the bathtub. 

The events at the apartment felt like a fever dream. You sit there covering your mouth thinking, “Wow, did that really just happen?”

Or you’re just wondering if he’s just hallucinating the whole situation.

Nope, it was all real. That just happened, now what?

We get taken on this journey with Beau meeting new people and having to deal with the other challenges that come along with it. 

A pill popping family of overprotective parents, who find Beau to fill in the void of losing their son, to a daughter who becomes jealous of the better life that Beau is receiving from her own parents to the psychotic veteran they have living with them. It’s all but warm and welcoming. 

He then finds a group of nomads that were abandoned by their parents when they were little and are now traveling the woods living off the land. 

Though the movie has its most surreal moments, it feels like it slows down a little towards the end, just for it to hit you with the most outrageous, barbaric, shocking ending. Beau finding out about his life that his mother has hidden from him, including information about his father who he never met.

His father is a penis-monster living in the attic. You’re just going to have to watch this movie for yourself. There’s no explaining it. 

“Beau is Afraid” is a movie like no other. It had my heart pounding from beginning to end. This anxiety inducing film leaves you dizzy, confused and in a state of complete shock. The silence after the film ends is so loud. After taking my friends with me, I was told I was not allowed to pick a movie ever again. 

The ride that Beau takes us on is mind-boggling, jaw dropping and overall just strange. Nothing feels real. Beau’s life feels like a nightmare, no wait, it is a nightmare. The guilt-ridden life his mother pushed on him sadly made him the person he is as an adult. It drives him to the point of complete madness. 

Though this movie differs from Aster’s previous projects, he still knows how to hit audiences with the most traumatic plotlines made. It may not appeal to every audience, but it’s definitely a standout movie this year.