Beau is Afraid Review: Beau is Relentless
Ari Aster's Beau is Afraid is a unique blend of horror and humor that explores the psychological journey of Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix), who is struggling to cope with his fears on a day where he is trying to get to his mother’s house to visit her.
Similar to Aster's previous films, Midsommar and Hereditary, the movie deals with dark and disturbing themes that elicit strong emotions from the viewer, but contains a lot more humor than those two previous works.
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I had so many thoughts about the movie, and I walked out of the theater with many questions unanswered. This actually made my interest and recollection of the movie grow more fond over time, as I contemplated it more. This was similar to the experience of both Midsommar and Hereditary.
The film's plot is a psychological odyssey that uses experimental storytelling techniques to enrich the interpretation of the themes. Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Beau is a standout performance that expertly captures the character's anxieties and internal conflicts, bringing them to life in a way that resonates with audiences.
Joaquin Phoenix's remarkable performance as Beau captures the character's anxieties and conflicts in Ari Aster's psychological odyssey
Aster explained in an interview that ambivalence is a particular type of hell, which is reflected in Beau's character. The film explores the intricacies of human emotion, particularly guilt, anxiety, and ambivalence, and leaves the audience reflecting on the deeper messages conveyed through the film's unique mix of horror and humor.
Here’s my three biggest takeaways from the psychological odyssey of Beau is Afraid…
[SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT]
1. Beau’s Injuries are Relentless
Beau is Afraid is a movie that depicts Beau's life from a child to an elderly man, who is relentlessly bombarded with injuries from the external world around him. It seems like he is a person who stays locked in his safety room, his apartment, which is surrounded by the most dangerous things one can imagine. Every injury that comes to him is caused by an outside factor, and he has no way of stopping it from getting to him.
Beau's life is plagued by external dangers that leave him with numerous injuries, both physical and psychological.
From minor psychological injuries like being chased by a strange man covered in tattoos and psychologically tormented by his neighbor to major physical injuries like being hit by a large truck and subsequently stabbed by a naked serial murderer, Beau's injuries are relentless.
The movie's intentional portrayal of Beau's injuries can mean many things, with one interpretation being a physical representation of what it is like to lose someone, particularly a parent.
Losing a parent is brutal, starting with a sudden disruption of the feeling of safety in the world.
The strange man falling on Beau while he is in the bathtub with a brown recluse spider on his forehead and the brown recluse infestation in the building he lives in symbolize the fact that the place he calls home is no longer safe, even inside his doors. The notes his neighbor sends are also evidence of the outside world disrupting his safety net.
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Another interpretation of the injuries is connected to Beau's inability to ejaculate because his mother had told him that is how his father died. A very strange and eerie flashback scene shows her telling Beau how his dad died - impregnating her with him. She explains that Beau's father had a medical condition that Beau inherited, which caused him to die immediately upon ejaculation.
So, Beau is afraid to ejaculate.
Throughout the movie, Beau endures an immense amount of pain and suffering. However, in the final scene, he is unexpectedly launched into the air as a powerful surge of water propels him upward, causing his boat to overturn while he stands on it.
He is flung into the air. This is his death. It is the first true pause from all of the chaos and turmoil and confusion that lead to this moment. Then it is dead silence and no music as the credits roll. It is like rest from the long journey and over-the-top pain.
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My interpretation of the movie is that it portrays life as a series of painful and tumultuous struggles, and even when it isn’t super serious, the everyday thoughts we must overcome can be dizzying. The older we get the more dizzying our mundane thoughts might become. I imagine that at a certain point, we won’t want them anymore.
So, Beau is Afraid is saying: death brings a sweet release similar to ejaculation. (LOL). Ari Aster said himself in an interview that the surge of water is meant to look like an ejaculation.
While it may seem strange, it's also quite fascinating. The movie is filled with serious traumatic incidents, but the underlying theme of ejaculation adds a layer of humor to it all.
In conclusion, Beau is Afraid is a thought-provoking movie that portrays Beau's relentless injuries as a physical representation of losing someone, particularly a parent, and a metaphor for what life is like until we die. In this way, the movie is very similar to Ari Aster’s past works that are very bleak views of the world we live in today. The difference is, this one is funny.
2. There’s No Recalibration or Time to Process
Beau, the main character in the movie being discussed, undergoes a lot of physical and emotional injuries throughout the film. Unfortunately, he never gets a chance to properly heal or understand the impact of these wounds. This is because the events of his life seem to be an ongoing mess, with no time for recalibration or processing in the time we know Beau.
However, there are two instances in the movie where the audience is given the chance to reflect despite the fast-paced series of events.
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The first is when Beau meets a traveling show in the forest. As the play continues, it slowly morphs into an alternate version of Beau's life. This is a chance for the audience to put a halt on what is happening, though it can be confusing at times. From the moment he meets the pregnant woman in the forest, it becomes clear that this is not Beau's reality anymore. The events prior to this moment seemed to be grounded in a reality similar to ours, but with the extremes and specifics of Beau's life. This was a new shift.
Beau's encounter with a traveling show turns into an alternate reality of his life, and it is a moment of decompression and understanding amidst the confusion and chaos of his journey.
The second moment of decompression and understanding comes when Beau reaches his mother's house. He hears the funeral services over a recording and finally has a chance to rest his head. However, his relaxation is short-lived as Elaine (Parker Posey) arrives at the house, sparking a new phase of the journey that makes even less sense than the traveling show, and Beau never gets a chance to fully process his trauma because he dies before he can.
The movie spans the entirety of Beau's life and can be seen as a broad metaphor for life itself.
We all experience trauma after trauma and a constant search for understanding, but one day it ends, and we can finally rest. While this interpretation may seem vague and not very enlightening, the specific order and nature of the movie make it valid. The plot details earn the right for this to be one of the main thematic points.
3. The Absurdity Made Me Laugh
I couldn’t get over how bad he had it. I understood that he could have made some better choices or had a little more courage at some points in the movie that could have made him a stronger hero-type. But as the title presumes, he is not a courageous hero, he is afraid. I mean he has great reason to be afraid throughout the movie. It’s all there is for him. Reasons to be afraid.
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What I found amusing was how relatable the character's fear was, and as I pondered on it, I began to grasp the actual dangers lurking in the world around us. The movie's absurdity began to mirror the realities of life, which can often feel equally absurd and unpredictable.
Beau's relatable fear and comical reactions reflect the unpredictable and absurd nature of life.
Beau's reactions to the situations around him are quite comical and are in my opinion a direct result of Joaquin Pheonix reacting with the most relatable responses. From trembling with fear to half-hearted attempts to intervene and even sprinting away from his problems, his responses are varied and amusing. Despite this, his reactions are often fitting for the given circumstance.
He is just a scared man trying to get by. This sets up so many tragic things that happen to him, but when they actually happen, they are pretty funny and the abundance of the times that they happen enables and at least for me, communicated that you’re meant to laugh at this part without feeling bad about it. Otherwise it would be just a pure bummer after bummer movie.
In addition, the mystery surrounding Beau's father's supposed death adds another layer of tragedy to the already complex narrative. The fact that his mother may have lied to him about the circumstances of his father's death is heartbreaking, and it sheds light on the traumatic experiences that shaped Beau's fears and anxieties.
I rate this movie 8.1 out of 10. I should note that I gave it a 6.8 initially, but the more I processed it the more I liked it.
Hint I got from this review: Accept its nightmare logic.
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