Beau Is Afraid is a really, really rough ride and tough watch. From the jump, this film soaks you in the anxiety-driven worldview of Beau Wasserman. You never know what has happened for real and what is a figment of Beau's anxious worldview. This mostly works, but Ari Aster gets carried away by Beau's paranoid worldview throughout the 2nd act of this 30-minutes-too-long film.
This film is shocking and jarring. The visuals frequently match the jarring tone of this film, leaving you with your draw dropping multiple times. You'll leave this movie with a palpable anxiety and a high degree of uncertainty about the film. It left me unsure if I'd ever watch it again.
Beau is definitely afraid, of everything going as poorly as it can possibly go at every turn. And in this movie it does, over and over, without feeling redundant. Aster consistently finds a way to one up his previously most scarring imagery. You feel like you are in someone's head from the opening moment till the end.
Speaking of the end, I wasn't thrilled with the final 30 minutes and conclusion of this film. I think Aster leaned out of most of what worked about this movie in the final 30/45 minutes in an attempt to say something powerful about the mother-son relationship on display. I don't think that landed nor was why I mostly enjoyed this bizarre, anxiety-inducing, psychedelic, visually stunning movie.
This film is shocking and jarring. The visuals frequently match the jarring tone of this film, leaving you with your draw dropping multiple times. You'll leave this movie with a palpable anxiety and a high degree of uncertainty about the film. It left me unsure if I'd ever watch it again.
Beau is definitely afraid, of everything going as poorly as it can possibly go at every turn. And in this movie it does, over and over, without feeling redundant. Aster consistently finds a way to one up his previously most scarring imagery. You feel like you are in someone's head from the opening moment till the end.
Speaking of the end, I wasn't thrilled with the final 30 minutes and conclusion of this film. I think Aster leaned out of most of what worked about this movie in the final 30/45 minutes in an attempt to say something powerful about the mother-son relationship on display. I don't think that landed nor was why I mostly enjoyed this bizarre, anxiety-inducing, psychedelic, visually stunning movie.