Beau Is Afraid (2023)
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A paranoia-ridden man embarks on a surreal odyssey to reach his mother's house while confronting his deepest fears.
The story
Beau Wassermann, the son of a wealthy businesswoman, lives a life defined by anxiety and a recurring nightmare. When he attempts to travel to his mother's home for an important anniversary, a series of unfortunate events—including a stolen suitcase and a series of physical assaults—leaves him stranded and injured. Believing his mother may be dead after a mysterious phone call, Beau must navigate a bizarre and surreal landscape to reach her. His journey becomes a surreal odyssey where he faces escalating obstacles and internal fears as he tries to navigate his way toward his family's estate.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Beau Wassermann, the son of wealthy businesswoman Mona, lives in a state of constant anxiety, haunted by a recurring dream of a twin who demands to know the truth about his father's death. While attempting to travel to his mother's house for her anniversary, Beau is stranded after his belongings are stolen and he is attacked by a food truck and a serial killer. He awakens in the home of a couple, Grace and Roger, and is told his mother's body is waiting for him. During his recovery, a girl named Toni commits suicide, and Beau is chased into the woods by a man named Jeeves. In the wilderness, he encounters a troupe of actors and is told his father is alive. After being tased and eventually reaching his mother's estate, he finds his former flame, Elaine. They have sex, and she dies during the act. Mona then appears, revealing she has been alive and spying on him. She takes him to an attic where he finds his twin and his father, who is a giant penis-shaped monster. After Jeeves is killed by the monster, Beau flees by boat. He ends up in a surreal arena where he is put on trial for his actions toward his mother. Ultimately, he accepts his fate as his boat explodes, and he drowns while his mother watches from the sidelines.
- First release year
- 2023
- Runtime (minutes)
- 179
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Ari Aster
- Writers
- Ari Aster · writer
- Cast and characters
- Joaquin Phoenix · Beau; Patti LuPone; Nathan Lane; Amy Ryan; Kylie Rogers; Parker Posey; Stephen McKinley Henderson; Hayley Squires
- Genres
- surrealist tragicomedy; comedy; drama
- Themes
- fear; anxiety; mother-son relationships
- Tone and mood
- surreal; tragicomedy; nightmare comedy
- Setting
- A crime-ridden city and a rural estate/wilderness.
- Premise and plot tags
- surreal odyssey; paranoia; magical realism
- Source material / true-story basis
- A 2011 short film entitled Beau
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics but was a box-office bomb.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 63 · scale: 100 · review count: 51
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Globe · performance · nomination
- Production trivia
- A24's most expensive film until it was surpassed by Civil War; The score is meant to be a representation of Beau's mental state; The film was originally titled Disappointment Blvd.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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