‘Beau Is Afraid’: a re-telling of the traditional ‘hero’s journey’ story, only without the happy ending

FILM REVIEW: BEAU IS AFRAID (15)

STARRING: JOAQUIN PHOENIX, PATTI LUPONE, AMY RYAN, NATHAN LANE, DENIS MENOCHET AND PARKER POSEY

RUNNING TIME: TWO HOURS, 59 MINUTES DIRECTOR: ARI ASTER

After writing and directing two critically acclaimed modern horror films in Hereditary and Midsommar, this was seen by many as akin to a rock star’s ‘difficult third album’ for Ari Aster.

And the American is certainly not afraid of the task ahead as he throws everything into this three hour production, promoted as an ‘epic, Kafkaesque odyssey’.

But whereas 2019’s Midsommar – which I enjoyed enough to watch twice – has a clear structure, this dystopian tale is set more in the way of clearly linked acts.

It is a difficult watch at times, and the comedy/horror labels it has been given can be misleading as there are few laugh out loud moment or scenes of pure fear. But it certainly keeps the viewer gripped for the full duration.

And one thing that is not up for debate is the performance of Joaquin Phoenix, who plays the mild-mannered, anxiety-ridden main character Beau with the intensity and skill we have come to expect from such a master of his craft.

The film starts with us meeting Beau Wasserman during a visit to his therapist. Beau is an extremely anxious middle aged man living alone in a run-down apartment in the crime-ridden city of Corrina.

Preparing for a flight to see his mother for the anniversary of his father's death, various events that may or may not be in his mind construe to mean Beau misses his flight, eventually calling his mum – who we later find out is a famous businesswoman – only to find out she has been decapitated and killed by a fallen chandelier.

Beau is locked out of his flat, which is taken over by deranged homeless people, and returns only to discover an intruder hiding in the ceiling. He runs out naked into the street and is hit by a truck driven by married couple, Grace (Amy Ryan) and Roger (Nathan Lane), who take him in.

Act two plays out a their house, where he encounters unstable veteran Jeeves (Denis Menochet) and angsty teenage daughter Toni (Kylee Rogers), who instantly despises him and eventually kills herself by eating paint, for which Beau is blamed.

Act three sees him flee to the woods where he comes across a group of travelling actors and, while watching a play, imagines himself as the leading man, growing older as he searches for his missing family.

However, Jeeves catches up with him and slaughters several of the actors before Beau escapes and hitch hikes to his mother’s home, where he meets his childhood sweetheart Elaine and the fourth act occurs. It involves a giant penis monster.

Finally, he escapes his mum’s home on a motor boat, only to end up on trial, seemingly accused of ‘crimes’ he has committed over the years against his own mother.

What it all means, I’m still not sure. It is definitely about guilt and love, death and failure too. But I guess, equally, there is no true meaning or moral here. It’s a re-telling of the traditional ‘hero’s journey’ story, only without the happy ending.

By Jeremy Ransome

Rating: 7/10

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