FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.firstshowing.net/2023/review-ari-asters-beau-is-afraid-warrants-the-love-hate-reception/

“Beau Is Afraid is by far Ari Aster's most complex, inaccessible film to date, although guilt, extreme anxiety, and a complicated mother-son relationship are clear themes deeply explored throughout five sections - the second is one of the most mesmerizing, visually stunning sequences of the year. The more I think about what I watched, the more I admire the unique, thought-provoking, overwhelmingly surreal storytelling by one of the most authentic voices working toda... read the rest.

Beau is Afraid certainly boasts an incredibly rich and intricate narrative, filled with a plethora of allegories, symbolisms, and thematic elements. However, one may question whether the complexity of the film is worth sacrificing entertainment value. In attempting to weave together these complex themes, Ari Aster has created a narrative that was very difficult for me to fully process.

During the first hour of the movie, I found myself engrossed in the story, with tense scenes that blurred the lines between what is real and what is fake. However, as the film progressed, these surreal scenes... read the rest.

Right from the start we appreciate that "Beau" is going to have an hard time with life. Luckily we skip forwards forty years and find him living an almost siege existence in a lawless city where sirens and racket keep him awake for most of the night. It's after one such a lively night that he suddenly awakes realising that he must get to the airport to go and visit his wealthy mother. Suffice to say, events conspire and he doesn't quite make the trip... He calls to alert his mother only to get the UPS man on the phone standing over an headless corpse. His mother? Well he now has to make a journ... read the rest.

It's way too long with no coherent storyline to keep you involved or interested.

The production values are very high and the look and feel of the movie are very rich... but it's not enough to hold the three hours together.

Beau is the unluckiest person ever... and he is constantly jumping from the frying pan into the fire (and through no fault of his own). This becomes incredibly tedious.

I watched the movie in 4 parts. No way I could sit through it in one.

I've watched three hour movies that just fly by... this one went by at a snail's pace and you really felt it.

Zero spoilers in here.

Absolutely wonderful. I can't do a big braining on what everything means in this crazy topsy-turvy roller-coaster of a movie, but it's one hell of an entertaining ride if you just sit back and enjoy it. For me, this movie needed to be watched the same way I watched Lost Highway - don't try to understand it, just be open to being frightened and entertained.

Suffering from generalized anxiety myself, the first part of the movie is absolutely brilliant, showing the world through the lens of someone with a severe case of anxiety. Everything is over the top, and the at... read the rest.

Not for everyone indeed. But it is A24 and Ari Aster (and yeah I am a fan of his works). It is very difficult to categorize the movie... part thriller, part abstract, part (well mostly) dark comedy.

Who knows Ari Aster works of before (Hereditary, Midsommar) knows he likes a lot to put abstract, symbolic and allegorical scenes, and pieces of the plot hidden thorough the movie. Beau Wasserman is unique and pitiless.

This one is surely one he put a hell of an effort to put things, and make sense in the senseless... and in chaos that is a definition for what I saw, it is pretty crazy as so... read the rest.