Beau is Afraid: Hidden Gem or Glorified Extremism?

Beau is Afraid (2023) Review: 3/5 ⭐️
Cunning, nihilistic, anxiety-inducing— and yet, by the end of the film, I understood merely as much as when I first walked into the theater. “Beau is Afraid” is a WEIRD movie. As an Ari Aster superfan, it was difficult to go into it with an unbiased perspective, as there are certain expectations for these films to live up to. Hereditary and Midsommar are two of my favorite thrillers because of their appreciation of the horror genre and attention to detail, and in those regards, it didn’t disappoint. However, the overall themes of the film were squashed by the clashing of so many different, overwhelming ideas at once. Visually, the tragicomedy was beyond stunning and created a multifaceted world for us to decipher. Despite this, I still felt like I’d been stuck in an endless loop of my own customized nightmare— one that was approximately 179 minutes long (Photos/A24).