Whether it be a family with hidden secrets or a cult set in the countryside, director Ari Aster knows how to deliver to his audience. His third film Beau Is Afraid was recently released in theaters and, like his other two films, was not all you expect. Aster’s unique take on horror makes him one of the best filmmakers of the modern age. But I immediately knew this was going to either be a movie I loved, or a movie I hated because that’s just how his movies are. It was unfortunately a movie I hated. After watching it, I regretted wasting three hours of my time watching a man trying to get to his Mom’s funeral. It was overall just a stupid storyline and compared to his other 2 masterpieces, I just can’t place this movie in that category. In the end, I still don’t know what this movie was about because it just doesn’t make any sense. There was also no lesson here to share, was the lesson that I shouldn’t trust my Mom because she’s a stalker who controls me? Joaquin Phoenix was the only reason I watched this movie because he’s a good actor, but even he didn’t keep up with his performance. Parts of the movie also just came out of nowhere, which is one of Aster’s main filmmaking moves, but these moves were weird and had no place in the story. In one shot you’re following Phoenix’s character traveling, and in another shot, he’s in a psychedelic land where nothing makes sense. This movie was just overall hard to follow and I wouldn’t recommend it to many people unless they want to analyze every part and try to find the things I couldn’t. 

Stars: 1/5