BEAU IS AFRAID

US, 2023, 179 minutes, Colour.

Joaquin Phoenix, Patty LuPone, Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Kylie Rogers, Denis Menochet, Parker Posey, Zoe Lister-Jones, Amen Nahapetian, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Richard Kind, Hayley Squires, Bill Hader, Michael Gandolfini, David Mamet.

Directed by Ari Aster.

Beau is afraid – and we, the audience, along with him. And there is a great deal to be afraid of, whether it be in reality or, more probably, in Beau’s tormented mind and imagination.

Writer-director, Ari Aster, made quite an impact with his first two feature films, Hereditary and Midsommer. They were praised as horror films. However, he had already directed a short films including, in 2011, a seven minute film called Beau, the Genesis of this feature film. And, Beau is Afraid, has also been described as horror. But, it is not in the vein of blood and gore (though there is some of that), rather, as publicity describes it, a tragicomedy. How much comedy will the audience find is a moot point. There is more tragedy.

Beau is Afraid is an Odyssey, definitely very Odd. While the writing and the direction are highly imaginative and, frequently, quite unexpected, the film is often something of an endurance to watch, to sit through. And, it runs for three hours. But, it is a credit to Joaquin Phoenix that we keep watching. Phoenix has proven over the decades that he can perform quite a range of characters (even Jesus himself in Mary Magdalene), but winning and Oscar for a performance of quite a different kind of madness in Joker. This performance certainly matches that one.

It does not take long to realise that there is something quite wrong with Beau, his mental condition, paranoia and imagination, living in squalor in a very ugly neighbourhood in a bizarre city, prone to memory loss, his therapist prescribing drugs to be taken with water, then a water failure, Beau’s collapse. Then there is the strange gradual revelation of his relationship with his dominating mother, his dead father. And some flashbacks to some seemingly happy at times.

Significant stops along the Odyssey include being rescued by a sympathetic couple, Grace and Roger (Amy Ryan and Nathan Lane), their suicidal and taunting daughter, their violent assistant, PTSD from war. Another stop is with a travelling theatre troupe, The Orphans of the Forest, welcoming Beau, his watching the rehearsals and imagining himself, his much older self, perhaps a variation on King Lear, trying to find his family.

By this stage of his Odyssey, Beau can hardly distinguish reality from fantasy. And, things deteriorate when he finally arrives home for his mother’s funeral, only to be dominated by her again, weird secrets revealed in the attic about his father, and Beau’s attempt to escape everything only to find that he experiences a kind of Last Judgement on himself, a review of his life, his failures with his mother…

Weird in characters, in narrative, gruelling in terms of sharing Beau’s journey, and no one could accuse Ari Aster of hope.

1. The title and expectations? The character of Beau? The nature of his fears?
2. The work of the director, background, film career, interest in horror?
3. The real and the surreal? How much of Beau’s Odyssey is actual, real? How much a dream? How much nightmare? The blend of the two?
4. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, through the three hours, Beau as an adult, childish and childlike mentality, coping and not coping, fears? And the performance within the play, a kind of King Lear character?
5. Introduction to Beau, his age, manner, appearance, mental condition, paranoia? In his apartment, the therapist, the drugs to be taken with water, no water, decision to see his mother, the impact of his mother, the effect of the flashbacks? Packing, sleeping in, the notes and complaints about his loud music? The baggage missing, the key? Late for the airport, phone call to his mother, the news that she had been killed by the chandelier? The spider? Running into the street naked, hit by the food truck?
6. The atmosphere of the city, the neighbourhoods, squalor, violence, the odd characters in the street?
7. The episode with Grace and Roger, their personalities, looking after Jeeves, their son’s commander, his death? Toni, her place in the house, dislike of Beau? The treatment by Grace and Roger, promising to take him to his mother, the postponements, the surgery, Tony and her reactions, berating Beau, the paint, her drinking it, her death, the reactions of Roger and Grace? Beau fleeing?
8. The Orphans of the Forest, the travelling players, their welcoming Beau, the personalities, the welcoming young woman, the rehearsals, Beau imagining himself in the play, searching for his family, separated by the flood? The interaction by Jeeves, the violence, the massacre?
9. The flashback to childhood, meeting Elaine, the relationship, promises for the future?
10. Mona, her character, business achievement, attitude towards her son, towards her husband?
11. Mona, Jewish customs, but her not wanting to be buried until Beau was present, his arrival in the house, meeting Elaine, the past, their stories, the sexual encounter, Beau’s fears about climax, but Elaine’s death, her frozen body? Carried out?
12. The madness, Beau and Mona, asking about his father, discovering his twin brother in the attic, the monstrous father? And killing Jeeves?
13. The final paranoia, Beau and the motorboat, the cave, the arena, the trial, his mother and the accusations, Dr Cohen, the visualising of Beau’s life, the relationship to his mother, the lawyer, Mona killing him, the buildup to the climax, the explosion, Beau’s drowning? His mother sobbing?
14. The audience travelling in this strange Odyssey, how much identifying with Beau, how much puzzled by him, how much was real, how much in his imagination?