I'm not afraid to tell you, this may be my favourite film of 2023. It will definitely be in my top ten of the year, however it would take an extraordinary film to knock it from its current first-place spot; this is because "Beau is Afraid" itself is an extraordinary film. This is writer and director's Ari Aster third major theatrical film; his first two films were "Hereditary" and "Midsommar" - two horror films, both of which I loved. However, upon seeing the trailer for "Beau is Afraid" I knew this film was going to be a departure. What's it all about? Well it breaks into four parts/four acts, which I have named: 1) Beau's Apartment, 2) Beau's Recovery, 3) Beau's Theatrical Adventure in the Woods, and 4) Beau's Motorboat. Joaquin Phoenix plays Beau, a grown man in his late forties with an estranged relationship with his mother. Beau has phobias about everything and suffers from confusion and anxiety; the world is a scary place. The plot: Beau misses his flight to visit his mother; gets into an accident; people help him recover in a kind of "Misery" like home hostage situation, he escapes this and runs into a theatre troupe in the woods where he has an existential journey ("The Impossible") and winds up in a small motorboat in a theatre of judgment (something out of "The Truman Show"). I can't really do more to explain it and what I have told you makes little sense. The film for me is about sex and death, fears and anxiety, legacy, and Freud. There is a lot going on in this film. Last year's "
Bardo" or "
Everything, Everywhere All at Once" are the closest things I could compare it to. It's a juggernaut of creativity and I'm still digesting it all days later. It's darkly funny. Twisted. I can't say enough about it. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, and it's 3 hours long. I will gladly watch it again. Now playing in a theatre near you.
