Acclaimed director Ari Aster returned to the big screen in April 2023 with his much anticipated third feature film, Beau is Afraid. Starring Joaquin Phoenix as Beau, an anxious and troubled middle aged man, the film follows Beau on his long journey he returns home to his mother after a troubled past and months apart. Directly confronting the viewer with a 3-hour long epic of “mommy issues”, Aster’s 2023 film was sure to be horrifying following his previous films, Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019), both infamously known as some of the most gory films to hit theatres, reinventing the horror genre in the 21st century. While the film succeeds in its one-of-a-kind, unique portrayal of anxiety and relationships all to familiar in the real world, as well as surprisingly hilarious incidents, it loses steam in its length and pacing, and its overall obsession with this singular and excruciating plot point.

Beau is Afraid begins following Beau, in his run down apartment in a dangerous and underfunded neighbourhood, where some kind of crime seems to occur hourly and murders are committed frequently out on the streets. Following a missed flight home to see his mother, Beau embarks on an epic journey, through twisted families, uncanny forest plays, and his own past and future to get to his mother’s home. Throughout, Beau is troubled by issues with his mother. He seeks her approval at every decision he is forced to make throughout each of his days, and as an only child without a father, is obsessed with her affection and affirmations. Along his journey, Beau slowly comes to the point of needing to finally cut the umbilical cord between him and his mother, before their relationship is ruined for good.

Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as Beau is compelling, but seems to be held back by a character written to be very one noted throughout almost the entirety of the film’s 179 minute runtime. Anticipating character growth at each turn of the film, Beau seems to remain the same, until some of the final scenes of the film. This works to effectively halt Phoenix from flexing his true abilities as an actor, playing almost the same character for the whole films, where all of his lines seem to have some sort of form of the word “mommy”. But in a surprise appearance of an unexpected character late in the film, it is Patti LuPone who gives the stand out performance, filling the viewer with disgust towards the character, alongside a complete understanding of her history in just a few lines suggesting compassion towards her character despite her troubling relationship with Phoenix’s Beau. Aside from the characters and performances, the film itself plays wonderfully into its more absurd qualities and is surprisingly funny, with each chapter of the film standing on its own as a one-of-a-kind piece of work. Utilizing animation, stories within stories, dreams, and flashbacks, viewers remain unable to ever guess what direction the film is headed in next. While this can become exhausting for some, these complete turns in form and technique, as well as a good amount of twists in its overall plot manage to keep viewers intrigued, for the most part, in the overly long film.

At times, the film does seems to fall too far into its own self, begging the question of who this film is really for. With a character who seems to remain quite stagnant, and surrealist qualities that can become quite tiresome after a while, the overall pacing of the film has its issues, seeming at times to dive much too far into its own symbols. While unique to watch, these symbols can act to instead remove the viewer altogether from the world to masterfully crafted by Aster, becoming much too personal and thus pushing any outsiders even further away in an attempt to make sense of one’s own personal issues. In contrast to Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, another 3-hour one-of-a-kind epic from last year by a director given full creative control, Babylon seems to tackle almost too many issues and storylines. Unlike Chazelle’s winding storylines, Beau is Afraid is adequately focussed, but over 3-hours, becomes almost too much, at its core simply detailing Beau’s issues with his mother as he makes his way home. In comparing these two extremes, the packed symbols and multiple absurdist qualities seem to work similarly to Babylon‘s packed plot, with almost too much going on formally, it can become a headache over 179 minutes.

Ari Aster took creative risks when making Beau is Afraid. Exploring the character of Beau, played by Joaquin Phoenix, a man with severe anxiety and issues with his mother as he journeys home to see her, the film takes turns at places never expected. At its best when playing into the more absurd and bizarre parts of its storytelling techniques and storyline, the film can become tiresome over its 3-hour length in its obsession with symbols and the singular issue of Beau’s mommy issues. For those select few who connect with the film’ storyline and Beau, one can hope the film will convince these young men to visit their mothers and to take the long awaited first steps towards cutting the umbilical cord for good. For the rest of the audience, the most enjoyment will be achieved when entering a viewing of the film knowing nothing about the plot and its twists, instead watching with an open mind and appreciation for the risks taken by Aster. In a time where movie theatres seems plagued by reboots and sequels and callback character cameos, Beau is Afraid acts as hope for a future of film where directors and writers are once again given full creative control, even if overly long, to explore the psyche of any characters they can create. Or for Aster, as a wake up call to finally talk with his mother.

Beau is Afraid (2023) is now playing in theatres across Canada.