Skip to site content
Ends Sun, May 28

BEAU IS AFRAID

  • Dir. Ari Aster
  • USA
  • 2023
  • 179 min.
  • R
  • DCP
  • Assistive Listening
  • Closed Captioning
  • Descriptive Audio
  • Hearing Loop
BEAU IS AFRAID
All Screenings: Pre-recorded introduction from BEAU IS AFRAID cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski

A paranoid man (Joaquin Phoenix) embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother in this bold and ingeniously depraved new film from writer/director Ari Aster (HEREDITARY, MIDSOMMAR).

“Phoenix’s performance…is incredible even by his high standards…. Aster has handed him one hell of character, and the actor has returned the favor by leaving nothing on the table…. May this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between two uncompromising artists.” —David Fear, Rolling Stone

“Challenging in the most thrilling ways possible, it plays like a mind-bending Oedipal acid trip of epic proportions.” —Nick Schager, Daily Beast

“It’s too early to say whether this is Aster’s best film — both in his career and with the film so fresh in this reviewer’s mind. Still, it’s certainly his most ambitious, using the tools of terror he’s cultivated thus far to eke existential horror out of more universal humanistic impulses. All I’ll say is, I hope he and his mother are getting along these days.” —Clint Worthington, Consequence

“A fascinating performance from Joaquin Phoenix, who actualizes what it looks like for a boy to suddenly stop growing up and merely age into a graying body…. BEAU IS AFRAID, an enveloping fantasy laced with mommy issues, is about being doomed from birth. It's Aster’s funniest movie yet.” —Nick Allen, rogerebert.com

The Belcourt Theatre does not provide advisories about subject matter or potential triggering content, as sensitivities vary from person to person.

Beyond the synopses, trailers and review links on our website, other sources of information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense MediaIMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.


See the Official Website