Review of Beau Is Afraid (2023) by Judahjsn — 24 Apr 2023

I'm someone who thought Ari Aster was the most interesting director to come along since PTA. I had to see Beau opening weekend for this reason. But I walked out of this movie an hour in. It's insufferable. Sadistic torture porn. Maybe it was going somewhere but I'll never know and I don't care. If this is what Aster is doing now I'll start thinking of him as off brand Spike Jonze.

Hereditary and Midsommar were not exactly easy viewing but the constant building of anxiety was balanced by humor, aesthetic beauty and breaks in the tension. This felt like an unrelenting dental drill. One long, shrill note. And unlike Aster's previous films the score wasn't good and the cinematography was ugly. Most settings looked like sound stages and the colors were bleached out. The only thing this film could be saying is an attempt at communicating the pain of living with high anxiety and mental illness. It made its point within 30 minutes. I didn't need any more.

Oh, and all love to Joaquin Phoenix but his lack of enunciation is getting worse every film and at this point he's basically unintelligible.