Horror is often an effective film genre to artistically explore major themes of the struggles of being human. By personifying the terror of the worst parts of the human experience, viewers can immerse themselves and experience the catharsis of watching the characters on-screen wrestle with humanity’s monsters. Other times, however, these attempts at using the genre for this kind of reflection can go a bit too far. And nothing could be more true in describing Ari Aster (“Midsommar”) and A24’s new thriller, “Beau is Afraid.”
Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker” and Armen Nahapetian, “The Orville”) lives in constant fear as a tenant in a neighborhood populated by tattooed mongrels, violent beggars and the infamous Birthday Boy Stab Man (Bradley Fisher, “Westworld”), who reporters describe as a “circumcised white man.” All begins to go wrong (as if things couldn’t get worse) when he misses a flight to visit his mother (Zoe Lister-Jones, “A Good Person” and Patti LuPone, “Company”). Through a series of elaborate and increasingly ridiculous situations —including the death of his mother, being hit by a car and getting chased by a crazed former soldier (Denis Ménochet, “Inglourious Basterds”) — Beau finds himself stumbling through a life that just won’t stop getting worse.
If that synopsis made no sense, don’t worry. The film didn’t make much sense either. While the film attempts to create a wild artistic representation of paranoia, its ridiculousness often goes beyond striking the audience with its message into pure confusion. Yes, having every stereotypical “bad neighbor” walk into and trash Beau’s apartment as he watches helplessly from across the street is a comically horrifying scene to watch as a representation of paranoia, but continuing to put Beau in a long string of similarly absurd situations begins to desensitize the audience and stray from the metaphor. So while preposterousness in representing paranoia or other mental health conditions can be effective in thrillers like this, “Beau is Afraid” overuses it to the point of boredom for viewers. The film’s three-hour length doesn’t help as viewers continue to ask, “Is it over yet?” before being met by yet another wild situation for Beau to tackle.
This isn’t to say that the film is entirely bad. As previously stated, the actors’ performances knocked it out of the park. Phoenix, in a daunting leading role, truly bears the weight of the character’s horrific situation. Seamlessly transitioning from panicked confusion to resigned numbness, viewers can’t help but feel awful for him. Armen Nahapetian (“The Orville”), playing Beau’s teenage self, picks up Phoenix’s mannerisms flawlessly, finding and bringing focus to the childlike aspects of the older actor’s performance.
Other standout performances include Nathan Lane (“The Producers”) and Amy Ryan (“Birdman”) as married couple Roger and Grace, who hit Beau with their car and proceed to nurse him back to health in the comfort of their own home. Roger, a “respected surgeon” and the pinnacle of white dads, is portrayed with perfect comic timing by Lane, who embraces the stereotype with hilariously delivered lines like “Beddy-by for the Rog man!” Ryan, meanwhile, expertly balances her kind mom facade with a genuine fear for this poor man’s situation and a desperate longing for her late son, named Nathan. Speaking of stereotypes, their daughter Toni’s (Kylie Rogers, “The Whispers”) slow descent into madness due to her parents’ focus on the strange man who has entered their home goes from bratty teenage girl to helplessly crazed child in a beautiful performance.
The film is also a feat of cinematography. From foreshadowing through precise framing and defying the conventions of continuity editing to a combination of animation, theatrical sets and live footage of Beau, cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski (“Midsommar”) creates a gorgeous film that almost makes up for the nonsensical handling of major themes and plot. Furthermore, the sound often stood out, for example, through the regular use of muffled dialogue, as if the viewer is missing out on something important (a much more effective evocation of paranoia). The score by The Haxan Cloak (“Midsommar”) also benefited the film, often becoming discordant and adding to the film’s unsettling nature through the use of lilting vocals and dissonant harp.
Big names like A24 and Ari Aster often set expectations high, and while “Beau is Afraid” met those expectations in some regard, it disappointed in others. Its ridiculousness in representing paranoia (and the ensuing dread of assuming the worst) becomes so constant to the point where audiences are left bored, waiting for the shockfest to end. It is unclear whether its assets in the form of effective actor performances and beautiful cinematography make up for its flaws, but it’s safe to say that “Beau is Afraid” is certainly a unique experience, for better or for worse.
Daily Arts Writer Max Newman can be reached at jqnewman@umich.edu.