Me after 30 minutes: If Ari Aster's goal was to make me uncomfortable, he's certainly succeeding.

Me after 2.5 hours: I don't mind long movies, but this is exhausting.

Me after 3 hours: [Spoiler]That penis monster was the worst thing I've ever seen. [/Spoiler]

Edit: After seeing that Ari Aster called this a "Jewish Lord of the Rings", I'm tempted to lower my rating. I don't think he understands Judaism _or_ The Lord of the Rings. (Written as a Jew myself.)

Sure, Judaism is associated with neuroticism and guilt, and LOTR is an epic journey. But at the essence of each of them is _hope_ -- something this movie completely lacks. [spoiler]Even when Beau finally confronts and kills his mother, there is no redemption -- he is once again destroyed by her. [/spoiler]

I'm just confused. It all makes sense in some way, but I'm just so confused. I'm getting confused writing this. What even is this? Who? Beau? Too confusing. Oh yeah, and it was too long. Way too long.

a movie so soaked in metaphors that it loses its main idea

The odyssey of a spineless middle-aged loser who must traverse oceans and mountains to visit his overbearing mother. The journey is embellished with reimagined childhood traumas and moments of surreal comedy that could only be described as grotesque. Initially, it feels like plunging into a world seen through the eyes of someone plagued by pathological anxiety. However, as the narrative unfolds, there’s a progressive shift towards pure psychoanalytic delirium rich in symbolic elements.

While the formula succeeds in entertaining and captivating for the majority of its duration, the overall result leaves an impression of having been assembled in a somewhat disorderly and redundant manner. This approach seems to prioritize the director's self-indulgence and pretentiousness over the coherence of the storytelling.

In brief, it's an incredibly amusing and thought-provoking auteur spectacle, displaying remarkable audacity within contemporary cinema. Yet, its potential could have been elevated further with a better sense of restraint and cohesiveness.

After 3 hours, I don't know what I've seen.

A pile of steaming hot garbage film. Never expected this from Aster. The fuck?

Boy, I wanted to love this. The first hour and a half to two hours are amazing, 4.5 / 5. But boy does this film crash hard. The final act (or final two parts) are extremely weak. This film is an hour too long, and often there are shots that go for too long. I'm all for long shots but they are done too often here and don't add anything.

As good as Phoenix is, the script is really poor for his character and by the end, he achieves nothing.

Beau isn't the only one who's afraid. I'm afraid this wasn't very good.

Beau is Afraid is like the State Fair Haunted House ride at 4am: obscure, not very accessible and not very scary.

This was just too much movie for Aster, who made some nice directing decisions but let the film get away from him.

PS It's not because you didn't understand it that it's smarter than you!

"I'm not asking you to leave, I'm asking you to fucking drink this fucking paint with me."

There was some stuff in here that I really liked, but considering it was a 3-hour movie, there simply wasn't enough stuff that I liked for me to rate this highly. I spent most of the runtime uninterested and bored with what was going on.

Since no one has mentioned it before, I find it quite challenging to watch this movie for the first time. When the film ended, I sat for a while, attempting to piece everything together. Subsequently, I decided to watch it again, and now, a week later, I'm in the midst of my third viewing. Each time I watch it, I uncover new horrors and torments in different scenes.

The movie boasts an immense density of information. Beau's psychosis is portrayed with astonishing realism. For those who have never experienced profound anxiety or lived through a psychosis, it may be difficult to grasp just how brilliantly it is depicted. The mother's influence permeates every aspect of Beau's life; he can never escape it.

Joaquin is brilliant as usual.

In my opinion, this film is a true masterpiece.

[spoiler] Bill Hader was the UPS guy that found the Corpse! Was Barry Berkman involved!?! :joy: [/spoiler]

Wow, so much going on in this movie that many people will find much of it confusing and boring. I think this movie portrays the idea of anxiety very well while some parts of this movie make absolutely no sense, but I did find it entertaining.

Weird, indulgent, chaotic and wild. If that's for you? Buckle up. I'm giving it a 7.3. My wife gave it a 2. Lol, it's going to be wildly divisive. Some people have bad trips and others have great ones while on the same stuff. That's this movie in a nutshell. Kudos to Phoenix. Great stuff.

I thought this was pretty dope. It felt like you was seeing it from a person who has mad anxiety and his mom seemed pretty controlling, his awkwardness and anxiety didn't make things better. He didn't want to be around her so much that he moved to a terrible area just to live alone and when he is forced to actually leave his place to go see his mom, he had to face reality. He needed help from the beginning but it seems to be shakey. I seen this about 3 times :joy: I seem to see different things each time. Worth a watch

It was like a 3 hour long fever dream put to film... Beautiful movie and well acted.

"Synecdoche New York" & "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" does it better but still i enjoyed the trip - The movie could have been wrapped up in a couple of hours with a bit of self editing but then again we are dealing with chaotic & scattered minds and no doubt self control does not come into the picture.. I would love to have seen a couple of shots later in the film of Beau returning to his apartment with the street looking picturesque, like he has been living in the most beautiful part of town but the chaos the audience sees is the anxiety in Beau's head..i think that would have worked better....or did he really live in that street...who knows

It's Ari's therapy session and we are all paying for it.

There are so many good cinematic elements in Beau is Afraid. Although its weaknesses are few, they are far more impactful. The movie is an hour too long and the narrative gets lost in its own forest of insanity.

Ari Aster's 3-hour epic and WILD odyssey, Beau is Afraid, sits right up there with his other works of art. This film really puts you in a POV of a paranoid man suffering through his life's trauma. I have to admit, there were some scenes that felt jarring and drawn out, but the parts that I did enjoy made it worth the watch. If you are already a fan of Ari Aster or A24 films, you will certainly be in awe of this adventure. For the casual movie goer, it could be a hit or a miss. Either way, tread lightly with an open mind.

A lot of movies like this I don’t gel with because it starts come off as a waste of time, that was not the case here. Give Ari Aster whatever he wants

I don’t think a film has made me say “what the fuck is going on” so much

If Midsommar was a high point, you can begin to imagine how low this point is.
Sometimes, you can try to be so offbeat that it becomes parody.
The film has finished now, but I'm still considering walking out.

It began so well... I can't believe what happened it the third act.
Joaquin Phoenix is an amazing actor, and this movie is no exception. He is brilliant in every sequence. The plot was interesting at the beginning: I didn't know if I was seeing everything from his optic or it was real. I think it was a mix of both. All the madness was very interesting. But from the forest on I lost interest, I think it was too much, not so much related with the main story. And the end was completely confusing.

I unironically LOVE this movie. It is DEFINITELY not going to be for everyone, but dear god did it manage to hook me. As someone with anxiety, it managed to capture it just about the best I've ever seen in a movie. This isn't what's literally going on inside an anxious person's head. Instead, it feels like Ari Aster is trying to make you *feel* like an anxious person would. It's a visual metaphor that produces a feeling that feels the same.

Idk anyway I fucking loved it. This is proof to me that you can make a movie that's confusing as fuck but still make it entertaining.

What if Eeyore was the main character in Pink Floyd's The Wall?

Jeez... That was weird.

The first act it's just plain weird and uncomfortable [spoiler] up until Beau escapes from the doctor and his wife [/spoiler], the second act was way better, the play scene was beautiful; the last act was glorious.

I don't intend to watch it ever again for my own mental health, nor would I recommend the movie to anyone. But if you happen to come across with it, I won't advise you to not watch it either, just be aware that when the movie ended, a couple behind me went: _"Are you ok?"_ _"No"._

I think the right thing to say about this movie is: PATTI LUPONE SUPREMACY. JUST MAKE HER AN EGOT ALREADY.