To my surprise, Beau Is Afraid ended up being a big dissapointment for many of the critics I normally consume. Some argue against the 3 hour duration, others against the absolute mindpluck without sense and order that this film creates because (of course) of the freedom that Ari Aster earned for this film. And yes, he EARNED the godlike freedom A24 gave him in this film to do whatever he wanted, no matter the cost, nor the sense of realism of a normal and natural film.
And just like any other artist without constrains of any kind about his own work, not the work of a studio or even the fans who never know what they want, but they pretend to... he just made his masterpiece, or at the best scenario: his first of many masterpieces.
Don't get me wrong, Hereditary and Midsommar are modern classics already, carved into the minds of young cinephiles and modern tendencies. His previous films, and the works of Robert Eggers formed a new subgenre, and a refreshing one for all of horror fanatics, already wasted because of stupid jumpscares and hideous plots. But even so, even with the freshness and the new discoveries, the new tastes, new grounds to play with the things that scare us and disturb us the most, it was too early to understand the mastery of a talented director, too young yet to show us his true powers above the others. Beau Is Afraid is his first true masterpiece and I can put my hands on fire to defend that statement.
This film isn't just the culmination of his starting era, the amalgam of his body of work, conforming both feature and short films, emerging from the ashes of an old short film becoming a horror epic of 3 hours that broke the mold of a mold he broke before for all of horror out there. In a world where pestilence in film form like the new FNAF movie or the newer production of the already dried out mind of James Wan is the "normality". Beau Is Afraid marks the exception, and a huge one, worth of your time and your focus.
My favourite film of the year for many reasons, but words can't express half of them, only with a insightful viewing, one can enter Beau's mind, played by Joaquin Phoenix in one of his best performances ever, and just enjoy the utter madness and horror that will accompany you in 3 hours of movie... until it lasts even further and backwards, past and future, funeral and umbilical cord.
Always with water...
And just like any other artist without constrains of any kind about his own work, not the work of a studio or even the fans who never know what they want, but they pretend to... he just made his masterpiece, or at the best scenario: his first of many masterpieces.
Don't get me wrong, Hereditary and Midsommar are modern classics already, carved into the minds of young cinephiles and modern tendencies. His previous films, and the works of Robert Eggers formed a new subgenre, and a refreshing one for all of horror fanatics, already wasted because of stupid jumpscares and hideous plots. But even so, even with the freshness and the new discoveries, the new tastes, new grounds to play with the things that scare us and disturb us the most, it was too early to understand the mastery of a talented director, too young yet to show us his true powers above the others. Beau Is Afraid is his first true masterpiece and I can put my hands on fire to defend that statement.
This film isn't just the culmination of his starting era, the amalgam of his body of work, conforming both feature and short films, emerging from the ashes of an old short film becoming a horror epic of 3 hours that broke the mold of a mold he broke before for all of horror out there. In a world where pestilence in film form like the new FNAF movie or the newer production of the already dried out mind of James Wan is the "normality". Beau Is Afraid marks the exception, and a huge one, worth of your time and your focus.
My favourite film of the year for many reasons, but words can't express half of them, only with a insightful viewing, one can enter Beau's mind, played by Joaquin Phoenix in one of his best performances ever, and just enjoy the utter madness and horror that will accompany you in 3 hours of movie... until it lasts even further and backwards, past and future, funeral and umbilical cord.
Always with water...