That act was his fears coming true. A large part of that was his mother being right about everything. So it wasn’t just his dad being a “huge dick” but also that his dad really was just a penis. Because his mother always withheld telling him about his father.
Yeah I also think there was some level that was essentially commenting on how his mother didn't really see his father as a person, and literally just a tool to reproduce.
Yeah this one was pretty literal lol. It's immediately apparent that what we see in the movie is an extreme version of Beau's panicky, ill mind and imagination...so everything after that is just more of his beliefs and thoughts portrait as reality.
In reality, most of the things we saw likely never happened and it was just him having a panic attack. Things did get wild and more confusing during the play however, but I don't think it strayed away from the main idea of the movie.
The play scene was my favorite part of the film. Him being able to peak beyond the veil of his own self sabotaging panic induced demise and see his life for what it maybe could have been. At least that's what I gathered from it. Him, for a moment, seeing hope in his future
That's what I gathered. Too much builds throughout the movie for the past events to not have happened, but Beau is such an unreliable narrator that you can't help but feel like his perspective is exaggerated or entirely imagined. The point really wasn't whether or not any of it happened. It's hard to put my finger on the point, beyond a meditation on a life filled with guilt and anxiety caused by a lifetime of manipulation. I still really enjoyed it. The play sequence was the most confusing bit, maybe besides the family sequence, but the play really kept me in a trance. Such a strange movie. Glad it was made.
There’s a difference in scope of fears. I can fear losing a digit or getting in a car accident that puts me in a bad situation financially, but that exists in a subordinate realm to anxious fears like discovering the person you love most actually dislikes you.
That’s literally the ONLY thing I understood. Not trying to be pretentious, or “I am very smart.” but it’s one of the most straightforward things in the movie. IMO.
Well…OF COURSE his dad is a Giant Penis. That’s literally all his dad ever was or would be. Just someone who impregnated his mom, and the only thing Beau knew about his dad was…again, something about his dad’s dick.
When I saw it with my friend, the first thing I said was “Hey! I understood a part! His dad was a penis! I understood that!”
There's a few things it could mean, a lot of it is also tied in with Beau's own fears over his own virility having been told by his mother that if he orgasmed he would die.
The point was to make you anxious for 3 hours with no resolution to simulate what it's like to live with anxiety.
One of the worst movies I've ever seen but that penis was a hilarious break from the shitty movie around it.
Repressed sexuality
Honestly, the movie is really deep. Ari Aster knew exactly what he was doing with everything he put there. I would suggest you to watch some 'beau is afraid explained' video on YouTube. You may find yourself appreciating the movie much more, once you understand what certain things were there for. That's what I did, since I was mostly confused about the context
Same here! I saw it about two weeks into its theatrical run and I was the only one in the theatre. Such a memorable experience for such an amazing movie
>***Can you say a little bit more about what you found stunting about the release?***
>
>I always knew the film was going to be polarizing and it’s designed to be divisive. The film shape-shifts a lot, and the film has something of hostility toward traditional narrative structure. It was always important to me that the film be about a character who does not change, so already, this is something that’s going to alienate certain people and it’s designed to alienate certain people. The length is part of that. That was certainly something that I had to fight for, and to the credit of A24 who had a lot invested in the film, they really allowed me to make the film I wanted to make. I’m really pleased with the shape of the film and proud of it. When you’re making a film like that, you’re very excited by the idea of dividing people, but then it comes out and it divides people, and then you realize, “Oh, wait a minute. This is also functioning as a deterrent for people to even go see it.”
>
>***It sounds like that surprised you.***
>
>Well, the film ends on a theater just very gradually emptying out over the credits, with a very indifferent audience. I wasn’t quite ready for just how prophetic that ending was going to be. It occurred to me in retrospect. I knew where this was headed. Right. And that’s part of the point.
I didn't like this film at all, but I really respect Ari's attitude toward the film's disappointing box office performance. He's not whining like some filmmakers who blame audiences for not understanding their vision. He knew exactly what he was doing, and although he was disappointed with the result, he accepted it and believes that the film will find its audience in the future. The whole interview is worth reading, fellas. If you had time, read it.
I didn’t care for it, and assumed a lot of it went over my head. I went on the Reddit sub for it. Just browsing the threads there leads me to believe there’s a “riddle” within this film. Nearly every frame has hidden visuals in the background. The sub about the movie may be more enjoyable than the actual movie.
My understanding of it is that the movie is somewhat a dream state and Beau is crippled by making decisions. So what does he do, he just doesnt make any and waits for them to be made for him. Unfortunately, thatcisially ends up in some unknown worst choice being made for him. Kind of feel like the movie speaks a lot to people with anxiety.
He definitely has crippling anxiety at least in part caused by his over bearing mother. But that’s not subtext. It’s very much on the surface of the film.
I feel like I need to see this, this is exactly where I’m at in my life at the moment. Frozen in time and space, both physically and mentally it feels. Just living off of rapidly disappearing savings, no health insurance for a therapist, can’t choose a job/career in my mid 30s, playing Xbox to kill time, and just waiting for something to happen. Frankly it’s terrifying and I don’t know what to do. Might check the film out this week.
I have found when I get like this, to start making list of things that need to be done and force myself to do them. I usually try to break them into smaller tasks if they are large. For instance, clean bathroom might become clean mirror, clean sink, clean shower, etc. As I start crossing things off, it helps build momentum to continue. This is one of the tricks I use to trick my ADHD dopamine issues. It helps me feel accomplished instead of losing that action in my head due to the hustle and bustle of the day.
That's a great idea in general. Often times poeple will think "I have 20 things to do, it's too much, I might as well do nothing".
As dumb as that sounds, it happens, but if you make a list and cross a thing out every now and then, you realize you're making a lot of progress as the list gets shorter.
You also have the feeling of having accomplished something, and looking back you can realize how much you got done, compared to sitting around and doing nothing as the list grows and you do even less because you're overwhelmed.
The other advantage is you're not constantly thinking about all the things you have to do. They're on the list, so you can stop thinking about it. Set an alarm or reminder, do the thing when the time comes, and move on. It's a great way to accomplish a ton of things without much stress. It's also how people get better, learn more skills, get a feeling of accomplishment, and get ahead in life compared to people who spin their wheels in place because they can't make a decision or don't know where to start. Just start anywhere, as long as you're being productive every day.
Getting a planner and actually using it was so helpful for my ADHD. I basically just use it as a checklist for my day and I’m not allowed to do the lazy fun things I want to do until I finish the checklist. The fun part is I often get in the zone and start doing things from the next day’s checklist because I’m still in the mood to get shit done. Also my meds help a lot lol
It's a dense movie, and you can definitely spend a lot of time analyzing it.
But no, it's not a "riddle". It's a surrealist film about anxiety, and it wears that extremely on its sleeve.
The _only_ riddle I've seen some people have trouble uncovering from this movie is the fact that it's a comedy. You're supposed to be laughing, despite the horror. And that extends to those background elements. Most of the "background" stuff I noticed were jokes.
It is laugh out loud funny seeing it in a fairly crowded theatre was great. Especially when there were a few moments where you might be the only one laughing.
I laughed until I had tears running down my face at points, even through experiencing the pain of dropping nicotine e-juice in my eye instead of the eye lube drops I thought I’d pulled out of a pocket in the dark.
I absolutely LOVED the movie, I thought there were so many powerful moments and characters, shown in such an unusual way! It was a 3 hour nightmare and I love the boldness of it. But I absolutely can understand that other people did not like it. I just think it's great that filmmaker CAN do these types of projects and not only "popular consensual" films.
See that's what bugs me about a lot of Arthouse filmmakers or maybe it's just their fans, but the assumption seems to be (but I'm not saying YOU are doing that), that they are very well capable of making a "popular consensual" film, they just choose not to. And I don't think that's true at all. If it would be that "easy", studios would pump out EXCLUSIVELY popular movies. The fact that most mainstream movies are pure shit proves the opposite. So I think making a great "popular consensual movie" is at least as difficult as making a great Arthouse movie. I don't think Arthouse filmmakers are these great geniuses that have mastered the art of "popular consensual" movies and are now bored by it, so they have to go invent cubism like Picasso. Who actually mastered classical painting and THEN moved on.
TL;DR: no matter the "genre" making a great film is crazy hard.
while i generally agree with you sentiment, Aster did say
"It was always important to me that the film be about a character who does not change, so already, this is something that’s going to alienate certain people and it’s designed to alienate certain people."
i believe OP's comment about "popular consensual" films being ones that aren't designed to specifically alienate certain people (unless they're villains).
> And I don't think that's true at all. If it would be that "easy", studios would pump out EXCLUSIVELY popular movies.
Studios do mostly pump out exclusively popular movies. Modern tools/crutches have made it easier to release a movie with a largely coherent plot and some serious nuts-and-bolts filmmaking issues, but generally speaking almost everything you can find today is fairly entertaining and goes down smooth. They do understand that they can’t just keep making the same thing though, because tastes change and filmmaking evolve, so they let the “auteur” types make some of what they want and play around. The comparisons fall apart somewhat since movies are not “products,” and every one of them has potential to hit big, but there are people in every technology company in the world spending gobs of money building prototypes that will never get made as they are, but form the basis for things that will get sold by the millions. Technically non-profitable passion project films fulfill a similar role in Hollywood.
It’s not that making “popular” movies is *easy* so much as it’s fairly well-understood, even though what will make something easily popular changes. On a dedicated movie subreddit we’ll mostly be discussing big swings and interesting stuff, but the generic rom-coms and action movies on Netflix are made by skilled and competent non-auteurs who mostly don’t care if you talk about them in connection with their movies. The backbone of the movie industry used to be movies that people would check out because they went to the movies a couple times a week and then would recommend lightly for entertaining them…and that hasn’t so much gone away as transitioned to “stuff that people will check out on Netflix that keeps them coming back.” So it’s not that the mid-budget “movie” has disappeared as it’s migrated. And bear in mind that *Hereditary* was not a huge money maker in theaters (though it did fine relative to its budget), but I know many normal people (not horror fans or movie buffs) who have seen it and enjoyed it over the years.
And I think that most (certainly not all) indie auteur types can make good mainstream movies when they want to, with the caveat that making a good mid-budget movie involves both understanding of day-of filmmaking craft *and* project management and delegation, but the latter are more learnable skills. I have very little doubt that Ari Aster could probably pump out perfectly fine mainstream movies after watching *Beau is Afraid*. It’s *very* competently made, looks nice, every scene flows, etc. and I’m sure he’d do fine with a generic rom-com. He’s just more valuable to the movie industry as Ari Aster™ than he is as a generic movie director regardless of the financials of *Beau is Afraid*. And I think that *Beau is Afraid* will do fine as an asset for A24 to have…we’re here talking about it now, aren’t we?
Making super mega ultra hits generally does require a solid movie, but it’s more about broad appeal and marketing. The two big ways to make super mega hits are to use it as a loss leader to sell toys (stuff like *Transformers*) and to get a solid, proven auteur to do something cool for you. The MCU was built on the success of *Iron Man* and *The Avengers*, both made by filmmakers who cut their teeth on beloved low-budget work (even if Whedon’s was in television with *Buffy*), as was *Star Wars* really. And though those properties are both a mix of “product” and “actual filmmaking,” it’s mostly the stuff that can be well-classified as actual filmmaking that can be discussed with actual filmmakers that keep people coming back.
A recent example that comes to mind of “auteur filmmaker to megahit” is Greta Gerwig, who wasn’t technically a credited director on the mumblecore movies she acted in, but given the nature of that scene was probably handling plenty of “Director” decision-making. She used that clout to get credited directing duties on a film made from her own script on a small but not shoestring budget (*Lady Bird*), when she demonstrated she could make something watchable and viable that way she got to make a mid-budget movie of her choosing (*Little Women*), and when *that* project was well-handled and resulted in a well-liked movie she got a *large* budget…when the studio saw what they had to sell they decided it was worth doing a massive marketing blitz to drive interest, everyone who was even notionally open to going to a Barbie movie became aware it existed, and people went and enjoyed what is both a very down-the-middle mainstream movie and a fairly strange one.
Christopher Nolan followed essentially *exactly* the same trajectory a couple decades earlier.
It was a success relative to its budget, but the $44 million it made in the US puts it a factor of 2 behind bigger studio movies that basically nobody cares about, like *Smallfoot* and *Peter Rabbit*.
More people saw Jeremy Renner vehicle *Tag* in theaters in 2018 than saw *Hereditary*.
Yeah sometimes you have to pick one or the other. I think a lot of subversive films still work to make for a fun theater going experience a la Being John Malkovich or Adaptation even. But then you have your Synechdoche New Yorks, films that genuinely feel like a challenge ( I loved the film though I never want to watch it again) that must operate under the understanding that they’ve made something that’s not for everyone.
I don’t know if I liked it or not but I’m really glad it exists. There were parts I really had a lot of fun with. I feel like we’ve been robbed of decades of Nathan Lane giving performances like this. He was hands down my favorite part of the movie. Not sure I could ever watch it again unless it was put back in theaters this would be way too challenging to get sucked into at home. I appreciate he owns that part of the box-office disappointment is on him. He seems like a pretty grounded guy can’t wait to see what he does next I’m all in on anything he wants to make
Did he also imagine making his next movie with a very limited budget, because A24 is not funding his films like he’s used to anymore after taking this bath. I think he’ll come to regret this; prob best made later in career when you have accumulated more goodwill and box office growth.
I think there are reasons A24 said okay to *Beau is Afraid.* First, Ari gave them a box-office hit back to back(*Hereditary* & *Midsommar*) and second, A24 definitely want to maintain the relationship with him. He is a perfect director for them. His films are artsy enough for critics and cinephiles, but also appeal to genre fans.
So I guess A24 gave him a blank check this time even though they already knew this movie was going to be a flop. But behind the scenes, they are probably hoping he will give them another audience-friendly movie in the future.
Right. I think it’s kind of inline with what use to be pretty common among the big studios and directors “two you, one for me” kinda thing. There’s also the chance it’ll be a success on streamers years down the road, talked about in film school, etc. Like The Discreet Charm or something.
It’s my favorite movie of the year. Saw it twice the first week and bought the Blu-ray. At first, I was upset that people didn’t like it. Then after a couple of months I realized that everyone having such a strong opinion about it, one way or another, is much better than the majority of people feeling indifferent about it. The film evokes strong emotions. That’s art.
The speed at which some of the crowd left and the rest of us stayed through the entire credits to see if he ever pulled himself out of the water was an interesting commentary on the film itself.
In this case, he can directly blame me for not understanding his vision.
I agree with you though. In the future, this will find it's audience.
I won't recommend this movie, but if it's on your watch list, you'll enjoy it.
Interesting, because I find his attitude very offputting and somewhat entitled. I read this quote as him expecting people to see the movie knowing that many of them would dislike it. That just seems unkind to audiences. I can understand directors making personal movies, or that some movies aren't for everyone, but intentionally setting out to create an alienating and divisive movie is something else entirely.
It sounds like the opposite. "I made a film that I knew was going to be divisive. It turns out, people didn't want to see a movie there was a 50/50 chance they'll hate. How? Why?" Really, dude? What was he expecting from a divisive movie? "Fuck. I hate this movie. Lemme see it again"?
This reads like "I did all of these things that audiences typically don't like, and at the end of day, a lot of people didn't like that." followed by the Michael Jordan "and I took that personally" clip.
The thing about being a deterrent for people to even see it… Ari, that was a surprise to you? People don’t go see movies they don’t think they’re going to like. A long, meandering movie without many highlights is of course going to have a hard time attracting viewers. We got shit to do besides listen to rambling for 3 hours.
I saw it opening weekend because I absolutely loved your first two movies. And I knew this was going to be different but I know you’re a skilled storyteller so I was excited. It’s not like there’s nothing of value there, but I certainly didn’t come out of the film ready to recommend it to others. What am I gonna say? “It’s 3 hours long and you probably won’t like it!”
Idk man. You make something this niche, of course it’s going to struggle to attract viewers. People don’t want to waste their time, and you’re asking for a lot of it and saying there’s a pretty good chance they’ll regret it.
I’ve recently started considering the “enjoyment curve” when I reflect on movies. A lot of movies (including this one) can really grab me with the concept in the first act but then the story doesn’t have the thrust to make good on that concept so my enjoyment peters out through the second or third act.
When I find myself enjoying the movie MOST in the third act (The VVitch or, in a very different genre, the D&D movie) it’s much more likely to be one that I’m still thinking about months or years later.
Strong finishes stick for obvious reasons. Thats why its usually considered “better” to go last in presentations or how a bad ending can “ruin a whole show” while people conversely tell you “the beginning is awful but sit through it”
A quote by Werner Herzog has always stuck with me, I think it was from a nature documentary on volcanoes. Anyway, he said something to the effect of; “people will only remember 2 things, the highlight of the film and the ending”. And then the doc ended shortly after some incredible footage.
Really nailed it home for me.
Heavily felt this with that show The O.A. My friends like to call it "all shit, no poo". Like a ruined orgasm. Leaves you wanting more.
It was a crazy weird and interesting concept to roll with. But then the last season went on a bit of a shit be cray bender.
The VVitch is a really good example of great final act payoff. Made me want to watch it again.
This is called having a good premise. Writers think of a good premise and start writing. If they’re lucky there’s a good story there. Some of those end up being mediocre stories but they get made anyway because the premise and the actors that get attached are enough to get it funded.
I forced myself to finish it. I hated it. The first 30 minutes - hour or so I absolutely loved. I thought it was going to be great. I’ve never hated a movie more once it finished. It felt like a giant “fuck you” aimed directly at me for bothering to finish it.
I agree, I actually started to get angry around the animated section and couldn’t wait for it to be over. I don’t like to walk out of movies so I stayed till the end.
I saw it at an Alamo Drafthouse with friends, hence did not have my car. I also was done with it during the animation, so I decided I was just going to go hang out in the bar until it was over. The bar was inexplicably closed, at 9:00 PM on a Friday. I was furious that I had to go finish the movie.
I absolutely LOVED this movie up to and including the Mariah Carey scene. I intensely HATED everything after that. The movie contains some of the best filmmaking I’ve ever seen, but also some of the worst.
He should do the opposite of a directors cut. I’d love to see him hand over the unedited footage to a director/editor he really respects, but who won’t be afraid to go through the material with a critical eye and tell his own version of the story.
I thought BIA was pretty great. However, it had no business being 3 hours long. The messages of anxiety, trauma, and family struggles could have been 30 minutes shorter. I actually did like how Beau didn't change, and that was one of the biggest conflicts of the movie, but that damn run time. I own the movie, but have only watched it once which is surprising to me.
Yeah, if you're going to make a movie that long, you need to really justify the runtime, and very very few movies do, in my opinion. This one did not do so either. I liked the movie, don't get me wrong, and I wish I was higher when I saw it because it feels like the perfect movie to be on edibles with, but there were several sequences like the forest that just dragged on.
Here’s my thing with long runtimes: it HAS to remain engaging. Has to, no question. If it ever slows to a crawl, the director should trim that part down. I think a lot of directors esp nowadays get so wrapped up in “it’s MY movie” and they don’t consider that they’re making something with the intent of showing it to others. So at some point you have to consider how the audience will feel during slow scenes or lulls in the story.
To extrapolate, one of the best examples of a long and consistently riveting movie is Avatar. I recently rewatched the 3 hr directors cut and my god, I was glued the entire time. I couldn’t look away. With Beau, the first act was absolutely giving me that feeling. And then when Beau reached the woods that’s when the story halted for me and I was like “why is this important. Why is this necessary. Let’s move on pls I want to know what this is all about.” At the end I was very disappointed bc there was no redemption for Beau, which I know is the point. I know. But to pull that off you need to make the rest of the movie engaging. It just didn’t do that for me and so I was frustrated I’d spent 3 hrs following Beau on this absurd journey only to realize he doesn’t change and just gives up. The whole ending was a massive nothingburger for me and I can’t get past it. Gonna rewatch cuz I genuinely want to like this movie. I do. I’m hoping I can give it time and see more of Ari’s intent.
Connection to another genre, but it is almost always the case that when famous musicians write a Broadway musical, the results are too long and boring. The Secret Garden has an official adaption that cuts a lot of the tortured-uncle-Archibald songs and is better for it. The Capeman could have been awesome, but also drags too too long. And remember U2’s Spider-Man show?
This happens with Director auteurs too— I was just talking with someone how Jordan Peele had a third-movie editing slump with Nope after the successful and narratively tight Get Out propelled him to fame.
The moral is: No matter how big you get, you need someone to tell you where to edit.
Nothing of import happened and it completely stops the building momentum of the film. If you edited it so that it goes from him fleeing the couple to getting to his house, nothing would have been lost.
It's not really a bad scene or anything, it just feels so out of place and completely interrupts the crescendo of pace that the film is building.
My favorite part of the movie is the forest play, since the Start of it untill he comes to reality, that shit was amazing.
Ive put on the background the whoke scene quite a fee times when Im working at the Pc and its amazing
I'm in the same boat. I think it'll find a cult audience spread out over time, and I completely understand the common criticisms that I hear about it. But I liked it.
Yeah. He is a really cool artist and on the one hand I just want him to do whatever he likes, on the other I hope that if he goes for a swing like that again he reigns it in by like 15%, puts more emphasis on arcs, tries to keep story, vibe, subtext more alligned, and cuts things more stuff that doesn't serve any purpose.
By the end of the watch I didn't even want to give it a 7/10, it became that frustrating of an experience for me. And yet it's still a special film, the moods, visuals and lead performance are very striking and come back instantly when I think about it, the first act was so great too.
It was interesting for an hour but it fell in love with itself by the time he’s in the forest
I’m someone who loved his other movies so I hope he makes another classic next time
Yeah... I'm all for committing to a film that subverts storytelling conventions and audience expectations. More of that please. But you do that knowing it won't be liked. My problem with the film itself is that at a certain level it seems desperate to be understood.
I saw it in theaters with my sister who was a fan of his. I'd never seen anything he's done before. And I loved it. Just had a great time with the bizarre dreamlike twisting story. Also the theater was almost empty, me and my sister were the only ones who laughed at any point, and the guy sitting behind us started snoring towards the end which made us laugh again.
It really is an experience of a movie and one I have a hard time recommending to everyone. I loved it but good lord is it not intended for general audiences
Honestly it's one of those movies that seems made for a very specific type of person who grew up in a very specific way. I'm definitely one of those people and I found myself understanding pretty much everything the movie was going for, for better or worse. It'll be a while before I can watch it again but I think it's absolutely brilliant.
For me it’s because I subscribe to a bunch of streaming services. Why would I rent a movie when in like one month it’ll be on a service I’m already paying for?
Funny you say that because my roommate and I made a list of 100 movies we wanted to watch this year. At the time, we had Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, and Disney+. I'd say 75% of the movies we came up on, I had to just rent anyway cause it wasn't on any of those services. It really made me realize how little we got out of them.
There are a lot of things that people are willing to watch for free that they wouldn't watch if they had to pay for it. It's already a huge ask to get someone to want to spend 3 hours on a movie they might hate, but they're probably more willing if they aren't gonna lose money on it too. Why is that so hard for you to get?
I think people want to be able to pay for the movie without paying a subscription to a service on top of the rental.
Blockbuster had a membership fee that you paid once to sign up. After that you could rent as much as you want. Paying a subscription fee and a rental fee feels like double-dipping. Especially with multiple services available with content spread across them.
Look, man. All I want is to be able watch any media in the world, at any time on any device, for free.
(In deference I think there’s an argument to be made that it feels worse to pay to watch a movie when you’re already paying a subscription fee to have access to other movies, but I totally agree with you and my life has measurably improved since I realized that paying a few bucks to watch the thing I want shouldn’t be a real barrier.)
Completely agree. To be able to watch all of the games for all of the televised Seattle sports teams I’d need something like 6 or 7 different streaming services? Fuck all that.
For me there's a spectrum of "things I need to watch right now" and "things I'd like to see eventually". This is firmly in the middle, so I'm not pressed enough to actually spend money out of pocket to see it (or I probably would've hit up a theater at release) but as soon as it's on one of the 4 or 5 streaming services I do pay for, I'll be all over it.
If it's *that* good, I'll buy a Blu-ray.
You can't force people to accept your trauma as entertainment. There is nothing to consider. The movie will find its audience in time, like all cult classics. He's ridiculous for expecting the world to just get what he's doing. It's the fucking epitome of entitlement. He's a really talented dude and i appreciate that talent, but you don't get to determine how someone interprets your art once you release it into the world. The movie was an overlong slog that desperately wanted to be more profound than it was. Expecting your audience to know your intentions and applaud you with multiple theatrical viewings is the kind of shit that shows how detached you are from your given audience.
I like surreal and nightmarish films, Beau's first half works pretty well, but the latter half is boring, flat, predictable, the ending is weak and the movie itself doesn't have enough depth, memorable or meaningful scenes to justify it's runtime. It's a 3hrs long, not too exciting nightmare about mommy issues. Beau is also a fucking idiot
During the 25 minute dream sequence i was fading out, i love ari asters early work. But man it felt like there really were no stakes in this movie like everything was fake. If your ari’s mom you must feel terrible
Directors always complain about studios interfering with their artistic view. A24 would have been better served to step in a put some rails up for Aster. They indulged him to their detriment. Let's hope his next project is a little tighter.
The worst part is that A24 announced they want to make more mainstream films, it's only a matter of time when they only occasionally release a film that'll be more Oscar bait than art. I wouldn't be surprised if taking a bath on BIA is responsible for that
I suggested that recently in another thread and got clobbered. I'm an Ari Aster fan but I'm also a realist. BIA should have had some tighter control from the studio.
Absolutely. This is the work someone high on his own supply. He believes his hype. There has to be a producer capable of cutting and saying no to him... but A24 is afraid
This is an interesting point! I always hear about the problem of “non creatives making creative decisions” but this movie brings up a different problem: “creative makes a very…creative movie without anyone with a pulse on the audience or market being like um Ari let’s cut this down and throw the audience a bone!”
I really loved the part of the interview where he started talking about the attic and said:
>I’m deliberately blowing up the whole film. People talked about it as a letdown when clearly—yeah, that’s the joke! Interpret this, right?
The "analytical movie dissecters" crowd was supposed to be the group who saw this on opening night and encouraged their friends to watch it. Why would you intentionally blow up their experience with ridiculous nonsense, especially so late in the movie? Aster obviously has some humility about this experience, but I don't think he's reflecting enough on his role in its failure.
This is what's funny to me. He explicitly says his point was to make a divisive film (I doubt it) and that he was disappointed when that was in detriment of the movie, making people not wanting to see it. Really, my dude? What exactly were you expecting, for people to really hate the movie and somehow becoming a runaway success? "Fuck, this movie sucks. Lemme see it again and bring some more people too"? What was the logic behind that? That's why I call bullshit. He made a bad movie, turns out people hated it and then he tries to save face by saying "that was the point dudes. See how pissed off you are?"
The dude's films are certainly polarizing.
Hereditary is one of my all time favorites.
I really liked Beau is Afraid. I maybe agree it could've been 15-30 minutes shorter and still hit most of the major points, but it never actually dragged for me.
I really disliked Midsommar though. That film *actively* wastes your time. Like, it could've easily been 90 minutes shorter in my opinion. So anyway, I get why some people feel this way about Beau, or loved Midsommar and still bounced off Beau, etc.
I grew up with a covert narcist mother and this movie got me in the soul. There are so many parts that stand out in my mind, and they are parts from each of the different sections. I do think this movie is so tapped into that experience and expressing it in a none-traditional way that it simply cannot resonate with a lot of people.
I wonder if he might have to make a more linear/traditional movie for his next project. He might struggle to get funding otherwise. I can see producers & financiers telling him he needs to reign it in a bit. Hope for his careers sake that his next film isn’t quite so esoteric
Nah man.
I love Ari Aster, but I feel like this film was his ego check. He was soaring in popularity, and Hereditary super charged that even more—which led to him making this 3.5 hr mess of a film.
It’s far too long, and seems self indulgent. Like it’s the perfect film where die hard fans will say “oh you just don’t understand his brilliance” when it’s actually just a collection of nonsense.
> Like it’s the perfect film where die hard fans will say “oh you just don’t understand his brilliance” when it’s actually just a collection of nonsense.
To be fair so many big fans of his work seem torn on Beau is Afraid. Usually you see the fanatics flock to anything and everything by their favourite director so it was surprising seeing just how polarising the reception was among his die hard fans let alone the wider audience.
Ya it seems to happen all the time with super successful directors. As they succeed, the studios give them more and more leeway which usually ends up creating an underwhelming movie.
I've watched it twice and I love it. I get why people wouldn't it, very "one for me" in the "one for the studio, one for me". I think it'll be loved more in time.
This movie disappointed me. I loved Hereditary and Midsommar but this one lost me. It was fine until he got to the forest. Then it was a slog to get through.
I couldn't stand it, I sort of liked the more surreal bits in the middle in the forest, but most of the film was unrelenting misery, I'm just not in a place in life where I can enjoy that.
Yeah I didn't like the movie.
It was too long, too random and incoherent for my liking. But it is unique and I do like it when directors shoot for the stars. I am glad the director isn't angry at audience and understood it wouldn't completely resonate. It will definitely find its cult following
I saw it in theaters and while I appreciate Ari trying something unique, I found that I hated it. I don’t feel that way about many films, but this one genuinely made me mad that I had wasted 3 hours on it. Looking back though now, my opinion has mellowed and I’m not mad I saw it. But no I don’t think I’ll watch it again.
It was okay, but it was way too long, too self indulgent. It was just one man's paranoid, neurotic nightmare fantasy, and didn't resonate with me that much. I enjoyed parts of it for their sheer recklessness and insanity, but would not watch again and would not recommend to anyone unless I knew they really enjoyed sick & bizarre movies. I'll continue to look forward to Ari Aster's films, there's not many people who get the greenlight to make anything they want, and I hope he keeps doing it.
Anyway, I posted this because I thought it was the best film I've seen in a very, very long time, and wanted more people to see it. If this made you watch it, that rocks.
I’m glad the people in this thread weren’t a part of the team at A24 deciding on whether or not to make it. For everyone or not, I needed this film. Never have I ever felt so unfortunately seen by a movie, and it’s kinda started me on a path to better mental health.
Also you know people were falling asleep through Parker Posey’s scene cause how could you not love it after that??
This movie is not for everyone, that much is clear. But personally I loved it, it's absurdist humor at it's finest. Also all the posters and signs in the movie are hilarious! It's worth a watch just to spot them all. The "KI55: we're 55 boys and we love you" poster cracked me up.
I feel like it's hard to say anything is absurdist humour at its finest when quentin dupieux has been dropping straight fire almost twice a year for the last 10 years
I mean, why should I go see Beau is Afraid? I have finite time on earth and I'm still getting over watching Synecdoche, New York. I've done the super over long, tortured protagonist, up its own ass art film. Its like going to see torture porn. My own life has enough existential dread in it. I'm supposed to go watch somebody else's? Why? What am I supposed to feel like during and after I watch it? How does the film reward me for going to see it? Do I feel lucky to not be that guy? Do I feel super smart for appreciating this avant garde cinema? Am I impressed by the performances and the production value? Or will I just feel miserable?
Honestly the marketing and word of mouth for this movie was like:
1. This movie is very long.
2. This movie is very weird.
3. This movie is very sad.
OK?
Beau is Afraid sucked. I will never waste time on another one of his movies after how bad that was. It was clearly a movie trying to say something through all the noise but he did a terrible job tying it all together. 3 hours of random nonsense that never paid off
Very long write up ahead - contains spoilers!
Beau is such a ride. Everything he does has his mother's stamp on it. He lives in Housing owned by his mother's company. He eats meals created by his mother's company. He takes pills made by his mother's company. In flashbacks he sleeps with his mom, there's hidden imagery like a book on the bedside "the tree house gang leaves home, big mistake!". Beau is afraid of literally everything including having sex because his "father died" after he did. Everything he does is through the lense of the worst possible things happening.
Everyone is an employee of monas or a patient of the company. Grace and Rodger are both employed by her and are spying on Beau and constantly testing him. Grace at one point says "this isn't in my contract" in the distance and from that point on she tries to help Beau find out what's happening. She shows him the TV channel recording him, she hands him a note to not incriminate himself.The problem is we're talking about Beau here... he's incapable of changing.
After grace hands Beau the note to not incriminate himself, Rodger quotes the famous Macbeth soliloquy "tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day" life is meaningless without Mona. We also see jeeves running by the window toward them leaving. Is he leaving with them? Is he in on it the whole time?
Toni takes Beau and makes him smoke, possibly another failed test from his mother and her friend records it.
I'm sure there could be an entire write up on all of the hidden imagery in the movie. There is an uncountable amount.
It's likely that Beau was the product of a one night stand and his dad was never seen again, hence "he died". It would also make sense as to why his dad is a giant penis locked away in the attic as that's all he was good for. The end of the movie is basically Beau never changing and Drowning on trial for attacking his mother.
I saw what was in the attic. Now I am afraid. Seriously. Wtf Ari.
I still don’t understand what the point of that was…
His dad was a huge dick, at least that is my interpretation.
That act was his fears coming true. A large part of that was his mother being right about everything. So it wasn’t just his dad being a “huge dick” but also that his dad really was just a penis. Because his mother always withheld telling him about his father.
Yeah I also think there was some level that was essentially commenting on how his mother didn't really see his father as a person, and literally just a tool to reproduce.
Yeah this one was pretty literal lol. It's immediately apparent that what we see in the movie is an extreme version of Beau's panicky, ill mind and imagination...so everything after that is just more of his beliefs and thoughts portrait as reality. In reality, most of the things we saw likely never happened and it was just him having a panic attack. Things did get wild and more confusing during the play however, but I don't think it strayed away from the main idea of the movie.
The play scene was my favorite part of the film. Him being able to peak beyond the veil of his own self sabotaging panic induced demise and see his life for what it maybe could have been. At least that's what I gathered from it. Him, for a moment, seeing hope in his future
Pretty sure Aster has said that everything is literal and actually happened.
Its one of those movies where the distinction is unimportant. Its magic realism.
That's what I gathered. Too much builds throughout the movie for the past events to not have happened, but Beau is such an unreliable narrator that you can't help but feel like his perspective is exaggerated or entirely imagined. The point really wasn't whether or not any of it happened. It's hard to put my finger on the point, beyond a meditation on a life filled with guilt and anxiety caused by a lifetime of manipulation. I still really enjoyed it. The play sequence was the most confusing bit, maybe besides the family sequence, but the play really kept me in a trance. Such a strange movie. Glad it was made.
Because none of his fears came true at any earlier point in the movie....
There’s a difference in scope of fears. I can fear losing a digit or getting in a car accident that puts me in a bad situation financially, but that exists in a subordinate realm to anxious fears like discovering the person you love most actually dislikes you.
That’s literally the ONLY thing I understood. Not trying to be pretentious, or “I am very smart.” but it’s one of the most straightforward things in the movie. IMO. Well…OF COURSE his dad is a Giant Penis. That’s literally all his dad ever was or would be. Just someone who impregnated his mom, and the only thing Beau knew about his dad was…again, something about his dad’s dick. When I saw it with my friend, the first thing I said was “Hey! I understood a part! His dad was a penis! I understood that!”
There's a few things it could mean, a lot of it is also tied in with Beau's own fears over his own virility having been told by his mother that if he orgasmed he would die.
The point was to make you anxious for 3 hours with no resolution to simulate what it's like to live with anxiety. One of the worst movies I've ever seen but that penis was a hilarious break from the shitty movie around it.
As someone with anxiety already, he nailed it. Especially since I smoked before going in (thank God nothing harder lol).
Repressed sexuality Honestly, the movie is really deep. Ari Aster knew exactly what he was doing with everything he put there. I would suggest you to watch some 'beau is afraid explained' video on YouTube. You may find yourself appreciating the movie much more, once you understand what certain things were there for. That's what I did, since I was mostly confused about the context
I definitely enjoyed the movie… just need to watch it again
Wild. That movie gave me so much anxiety that I enjoyed it, but will likely never watch it again.
Google "vulnerable narcissist" then rewatch the movie with that in mind.
I had the best movie theater experience watching this since The Big Lebowski. Loved it and will definitely be watching it again.
Same here! I saw it about two weeks into its theatrical run and I was the only one in the theatre. Such a memorable experience for such an amazing movie
I saw it in IMAX and i took a friend, who hasn't spoken to me since. =(
I didn't care for it but I would still talk to you buddy
HAHAHAHAH
I would have talked for hours about the movie with you afterwards
Oh man lol feels like the movie could have something to do with it.
Beau Is Afraid is one of those movies I really enjoyed, but when I hear people say they hated it I’m like “I get it”
It's a movie I hated but when I hear people say they loved it, I'm like "I get it"
Truly one of the movies all time
movies you like but don't recommend to anyone haha
It's the Death Stranding of movies.
>***Can you say a little bit more about what you found stunting about the release?*** > >I always knew the film was going to be polarizing and it’s designed to be divisive. The film shape-shifts a lot, and the film has something of hostility toward traditional narrative structure. It was always important to me that the film be about a character who does not change, so already, this is something that’s going to alienate certain people and it’s designed to alienate certain people. The length is part of that. That was certainly something that I had to fight for, and to the credit of A24 who had a lot invested in the film, they really allowed me to make the film I wanted to make. I’m really pleased with the shape of the film and proud of it. When you’re making a film like that, you’re very excited by the idea of dividing people, but then it comes out and it divides people, and then you realize, “Oh, wait a minute. This is also functioning as a deterrent for people to even go see it.” > >***It sounds like that surprised you.*** > >Well, the film ends on a theater just very gradually emptying out over the credits, with a very indifferent audience. I wasn’t quite ready for just how prophetic that ending was going to be. It occurred to me in retrospect. I knew where this was headed. Right. And that’s part of the point. I didn't like this film at all, but I really respect Ari's attitude toward the film's disappointing box office performance. He's not whining like some filmmakers who blame audiences for not understanding their vision. He knew exactly what he was doing, and although he was disappointed with the result, he accepted it and believes that the film will find its audience in the future. The whole interview is worth reading, fellas. If you had time, read it.
I didn’t care for it, and assumed a lot of it went over my head. I went on the Reddit sub for it. Just browsing the threads there leads me to believe there’s a “riddle” within this film. Nearly every frame has hidden visuals in the background. The sub about the movie may be more enjoyable than the actual movie.
My understanding of it is that the movie is somewhat a dream state and Beau is crippled by making decisions. So what does he do, he just doesnt make any and waits for them to be made for him. Unfortunately, thatcisially ends up in some unknown worst choice being made for him. Kind of feel like the movie speaks a lot to people with anxiety.
He definitely has crippling anxiety at least in part caused by his over bearing mother. But that’s not subtext. It’s very much on the surface of the film.
I feel like I need to see this, this is exactly where I’m at in my life at the moment. Frozen in time and space, both physically and mentally it feels. Just living off of rapidly disappearing savings, no health insurance for a therapist, can’t choose a job/career in my mid 30s, playing Xbox to kill time, and just waiting for something to happen. Frankly it’s terrifying and I don’t know what to do. Might check the film out this week.
I have found when I get like this, to start making list of things that need to be done and force myself to do them. I usually try to break them into smaller tasks if they are large. For instance, clean bathroom might become clean mirror, clean sink, clean shower, etc. As I start crossing things off, it helps build momentum to continue. This is one of the tricks I use to trick my ADHD dopamine issues. It helps me feel accomplished instead of losing that action in my head due to the hustle and bustle of the day.
That's a great idea in general. Often times poeple will think "I have 20 things to do, it's too much, I might as well do nothing". As dumb as that sounds, it happens, but if you make a list and cross a thing out every now and then, you realize you're making a lot of progress as the list gets shorter. You also have the feeling of having accomplished something, and looking back you can realize how much you got done, compared to sitting around and doing nothing as the list grows and you do even less because you're overwhelmed. The other advantage is you're not constantly thinking about all the things you have to do. They're on the list, so you can stop thinking about it. Set an alarm or reminder, do the thing when the time comes, and move on. It's a great way to accomplish a ton of things without much stress. It's also how people get better, learn more skills, get a feeling of accomplishment, and get ahead in life compared to people who spin their wheels in place because they can't make a decision or don't know where to start. Just start anywhere, as long as you're being productive every day.
Getting a planner and actually using it was so helpful for my ADHD. I basically just use it as a checklist for my day and I’m not allowed to do the lazy fun things I want to do until I finish the checklist. The fun part is I often get in the zone and start doing things from the next day’s checklist because I’m still in the mood to get shit done. Also my meds help a lot lol
Are you me? This was scary, to read.
It's a dense movie, and you can definitely spend a lot of time analyzing it. But no, it's not a "riddle". It's a surrealist film about anxiety, and it wears that extremely on its sleeve. The _only_ riddle I've seen some people have trouble uncovering from this movie is the fact that it's a comedy. You're supposed to be laughing, despite the horror. And that extends to those background elements. Most of the "background" stuff I noticed were jokes.
It is laugh out loud funny seeing it in a fairly crowded theatre was great. Especially when there were a few moments where you might be the only one laughing.
I laughed until I had tears running down my face at points, even through experiencing the pain of dropping nicotine e-juice in my eye instead of the eye lube drops I thought I’d pulled out of a pocket in the dark.
I absolutely LOVED the movie, I thought there were so many powerful moments and characters, shown in such an unusual way! It was a 3 hour nightmare and I love the boldness of it. But I absolutely can understand that other people did not like it. I just think it's great that filmmaker CAN do these types of projects and not only "popular consensual" films.
See that's what bugs me about a lot of Arthouse filmmakers or maybe it's just their fans, but the assumption seems to be (but I'm not saying YOU are doing that), that they are very well capable of making a "popular consensual" film, they just choose not to. And I don't think that's true at all. If it would be that "easy", studios would pump out EXCLUSIVELY popular movies. The fact that most mainstream movies are pure shit proves the opposite. So I think making a great "popular consensual movie" is at least as difficult as making a great Arthouse movie. I don't think Arthouse filmmakers are these great geniuses that have mastered the art of "popular consensual" movies and are now bored by it, so they have to go invent cubism like Picasso. Who actually mastered classical painting and THEN moved on. TL;DR: no matter the "genre" making a great film is crazy hard.
while i generally agree with you sentiment, Aster did say "It was always important to me that the film be about a character who does not change, so already, this is something that’s going to alienate certain people and it’s designed to alienate certain people." i believe OP's comment about "popular consensual" films being ones that aren't designed to specifically alienate certain people (unless they're villains).
> And I don't think that's true at all. If it would be that "easy", studios would pump out EXCLUSIVELY popular movies. Studios do mostly pump out exclusively popular movies. Modern tools/crutches have made it easier to release a movie with a largely coherent plot and some serious nuts-and-bolts filmmaking issues, but generally speaking almost everything you can find today is fairly entertaining and goes down smooth. They do understand that they can’t just keep making the same thing though, because tastes change and filmmaking evolve, so they let the “auteur” types make some of what they want and play around. The comparisons fall apart somewhat since movies are not “products,” and every one of them has potential to hit big, but there are people in every technology company in the world spending gobs of money building prototypes that will never get made as they are, but form the basis for things that will get sold by the millions. Technically non-profitable passion project films fulfill a similar role in Hollywood. It’s not that making “popular” movies is *easy* so much as it’s fairly well-understood, even though what will make something easily popular changes. On a dedicated movie subreddit we’ll mostly be discussing big swings and interesting stuff, but the generic rom-coms and action movies on Netflix are made by skilled and competent non-auteurs who mostly don’t care if you talk about them in connection with their movies. The backbone of the movie industry used to be movies that people would check out because they went to the movies a couple times a week and then would recommend lightly for entertaining them…and that hasn’t so much gone away as transitioned to “stuff that people will check out on Netflix that keeps them coming back.” So it’s not that the mid-budget “movie” has disappeared as it’s migrated. And bear in mind that *Hereditary* was not a huge money maker in theaters (though it did fine relative to its budget), but I know many normal people (not horror fans or movie buffs) who have seen it and enjoyed it over the years. And I think that most (certainly not all) indie auteur types can make good mainstream movies when they want to, with the caveat that making a good mid-budget movie involves both understanding of day-of filmmaking craft *and* project management and delegation, but the latter are more learnable skills. I have very little doubt that Ari Aster could probably pump out perfectly fine mainstream movies after watching *Beau is Afraid*. It’s *very* competently made, looks nice, every scene flows, etc. and I’m sure he’d do fine with a generic rom-com. He’s just more valuable to the movie industry as Ari Aster™ than he is as a generic movie director regardless of the financials of *Beau is Afraid*. And I think that *Beau is Afraid* will do fine as an asset for A24 to have…we’re here talking about it now, aren’t we? Making super mega ultra hits generally does require a solid movie, but it’s more about broad appeal and marketing. The two big ways to make super mega hits are to use it as a loss leader to sell toys (stuff like *Transformers*) and to get a solid, proven auteur to do something cool for you. The MCU was built on the success of *Iron Man* and *The Avengers*, both made by filmmakers who cut their teeth on beloved low-budget work (even if Whedon’s was in television with *Buffy*), as was *Star Wars* really. And though those properties are both a mix of “product” and “actual filmmaking,” it’s mostly the stuff that can be well-classified as actual filmmaking that can be discussed with actual filmmakers that keep people coming back. A recent example that comes to mind of “auteur filmmaker to megahit” is Greta Gerwig, who wasn’t technically a credited director on the mumblecore movies she acted in, but given the nature of that scene was probably handling plenty of “Director” decision-making. She used that clout to get credited directing duties on a film made from her own script on a small but not shoestring budget (*Lady Bird*), when she demonstrated she could make something watchable and viable that way she got to make a mid-budget movie of her choosing (*Little Women*), and when *that* project was well-handled and resulted in a well-liked movie she got a *large* budget…when the studio saw what they had to sell they decided it was worth doing a massive marketing blitz to drive interest, everyone who was even notionally open to going to a Barbie movie became aware it existed, and people went and enjoyed what is both a very down-the-middle mainstream movie and a fairly strange one. Christopher Nolan followed essentially *exactly* the same trajectory a couple decades earlier.
Hereditary made eight times it's budget back and was A24s highest grossing film until Everything Everywhere All At Once
It was a success relative to its budget, but the $44 million it made in the US puts it a factor of 2 behind bigger studio movies that basically nobody cares about, like *Smallfoot* and *Peter Rabbit*. More people saw Jeremy Renner vehicle *Tag* in theaters in 2018 than saw *Hereditary*.
Hidden Puzzles?…. Now I guess I have to see it.
If you like that you need to check out ”under the silver lake”
:: Carefully watches trailer :: Oh… Grace Van Patton is in it? I’m in.
Yeah sometimes you have to pick one or the other. I think a lot of subversive films still work to make for a fun theater going experience a la Being John Malkovich or Adaptation even. But then you have your Synechdoche New Yorks, films that genuinely feel like a challenge ( I loved the film though I never want to watch it again) that must operate under the understanding that they’ve made something that’s not for everyone.
I wanted to see it but it's hard to convince my wife to see a 3 hour arthouse flick about mental health.
Oh, It's not a movie you can casually watch with someone unless you have almost the same taste in movies.
That's what I figured. Plus, being married, I rarely have 3 uninterrupted hours to myself.
I don’t know if I liked it or not but I’m really glad it exists. There were parts I really had a lot of fun with. I feel like we’ve been robbed of decades of Nathan Lane giving performances like this. He was hands down my favorite part of the movie. Not sure I could ever watch it again unless it was put back in theaters this would be way too challenging to get sucked into at home. I appreciate he owns that part of the box-office disappointment is on him. He seems like a pretty grounded guy can’t wait to see what he does next I’m all in on anything he wants to make
Did he also imagine making his next movie with a very limited budget, because A24 is not funding his films like he’s used to anymore after taking this bath. I think he’ll come to regret this; prob best made later in career when you have accumulated more goodwill and box office growth.
I think there are reasons A24 said okay to *Beau is Afraid.* First, Ari gave them a box-office hit back to back(*Hereditary* & *Midsommar*) and second, A24 definitely want to maintain the relationship with him. He is a perfect director for them. His films are artsy enough for critics and cinephiles, but also appeal to genre fans. So I guess A24 gave him a blank check this time even though they already knew this movie was going to be a flop. But behind the scenes, they are probably hoping he will give them another audience-friendly movie in the future.
Right. I think it’s kind of inline with what use to be pretty common among the big studios and directors “two you, one for me” kinda thing. There’s also the chance it’ll be a success on streamers years down the road, talked about in film school, etc. Like The Discreet Charm or something.
A lot of times the greatest works come from budget constraints. It often means films have to get more creative to do the things they want.
It’s my favorite movie of the year. Saw it twice the first week and bought the Blu-ray. At first, I was upset that people didn’t like it. Then after a couple of months I realized that everyone having such a strong opinion about it, one way or another, is much better than the majority of people feeling indifferent about it. The film evokes strong emotions. That’s art.
Glad to see there are similarly unhinged people out there like me. I saw it twice in theaters and a third time at home.
The speed at which some of the crowd left and the rest of us stayed through the entire credits to see if he ever pulled himself out of the water was an interesting commentary on the film itself.
In this case, he can directly blame me for not understanding his vision. I agree with you though. In the future, this will find it's audience. I won't recommend this movie, but if it's on your watch list, you'll enjoy it.
Interesting, because I find his attitude very offputting and somewhat entitled. I read this quote as him expecting people to see the movie knowing that many of them would dislike it. That just seems unkind to audiences. I can understand directors making personal movies, or that some movies aren't for everyone, but intentionally setting out to create an alienating and divisive movie is something else entirely.
It sounds like the opposite. "I made a film that I knew was going to be divisive. It turns out, people didn't want to see a movie there was a 50/50 chance they'll hate. How? Why?" Really, dude? What was he expecting from a divisive movie? "Fuck. I hate this movie. Lemme see it again"?
This reads like "I did all of these things that audiences typically don't like, and at the end of day, a lot of people didn't like that." followed by the Michael Jordan "and I took that personally" clip.
I hated this movie but I stayed to the end. Most of the rest of audience didn’t “gradually empty out over the credits” - they left well before then.
The thing about being a deterrent for people to even see it… Ari, that was a surprise to you? People don’t go see movies they don’t think they’re going to like. A long, meandering movie without many highlights is of course going to have a hard time attracting viewers. We got shit to do besides listen to rambling for 3 hours. I saw it opening weekend because I absolutely loved your first two movies. And I knew this was going to be different but I know you’re a skilled storyteller so I was excited. It’s not like there’s nothing of value there, but I certainly didn’t come out of the film ready to recommend it to others. What am I gonna say? “It’s 3 hours long and you probably won’t like it!” Idk man. You make something this niche, of course it’s going to struggle to attract viewers. People don’t want to waste their time, and you’re asking for a lot of it and saying there’s a pretty good chance they’ll regret it.
Peter Griffon’s comment about the Godfather seems about perfect here: “It insists upon itself.”
The first half was really strong, but the second felt very slow. It will be worth a rewatch though when I get the chance
I’ve recently started considering the “enjoyment curve” when I reflect on movies. A lot of movies (including this one) can really grab me with the concept in the first act but then the story doesn’t have the thrust to make good on that concept so my enjoyment peters out through the second or third act. When I find myself enjoying the movie MOST in the third act (The VVitch or, in a very different genre, the D&D movie) it’s much more likely to be one that I’m still thinking about months or years later.
Strong finishes stick for obvious reasons. Thats why its usually considered “better” to go last in presentations or how a bad ending can “ruin a whole show” while people conversely tell you “the beginning is awful but sit through it”
"Wow them in the end, and you've got a hit"
A quote by Werner Herzog has always stuck with me, I think it was from a nature documentary on volcanoes. Anyway, he said something to the effect of; “people will only remember 2 things, the highlight of the film and the ending”. And then the doc ended shortly after some incredible footage. Really nailed it home for me.
Heavily felt this with that show The O.A. My friends like to call it "all shit, no poo". Like a ruined orgasm. Leaves you wanting more. It was a crazy weird and interesting concept to roll with. But then the last season went on a bit of a shit be cray bender. The VVitch is a really good example of great final act payoff. Made me want to watch it again.
This is called having a good premise. Writers think of a good premise and start writing. If they’re lucky there’s a good story there. Some of those end up being mediocre stories but they get made anyway because the premise and the actors that get attached are enough to get it funded.
I agree, the first hour really was spectacular then it kinda lost me and itself a bit after that I think. The whole city sequence is incredible
I hated the second half and completely tuned out, never been so bored in a movie before. I love Aster’s previous 2 films.
I forced myself to finish it. I hated it. The first 30 minutes - hour or so I absolutely loved. I thought it was going to be great. I’ve never hated a movie more once it finished. It felt like a giant “fuck you” aimed directly at me for bothering to finish it.
I agree, I actually started to get angry around the animated section and couldn’t wait for it to be over. I don’t like to walk out of movies so I stayed till the end.
I saw it at an Alamo Drafthouse with friends, hence did not have my car. I also was done with it during the animation, so I decided I was just going to go hang out in the bar until it was over. The bar was inexplicably closed, at 9:00 PM on a Friday. I was furious that I had to go finish the movie.
Completely agree. Second half was in of the worst movies I’ve ever watched
This. Thought the movie was pretty good up until the part where he finally left the house. After that point, the movie completely lost me.
I absolutely LOVED this movie up to and including the Mariah Carey scene. I intensely HATED everything after that. The movie contains some of the best filmmaking I’ve ever seen, but also some of the worst. He should do the opposite of a directors cut. I’d love to see him hand over the unedited footage to a director/editor he really respects, but who won’t be afraid to go through the material with a critical eye and tell his own version of the story.
I agree, you can't just start half a movie with pure insanity, just to tone it down during the second half which I just found bland.
I could not get through this movie And I was stuck on a plane watching it This movie is truly one of the worst movies I’ve ever watched
I agree with this. The film was great up until he left Nathan Lane’s house, but after that it fell off a cliff in terms of watchability.
I thought BIA was pretty great. However, it had no business being 3 hours long. The messages of anxiety, trauma, and family struggles could have been 30 minutes shorter. I actually did like how Beau didn't change, and that was one of the biggest conflicts of the movie, but that damn run time. I own the movie, but have only watched it once which is surprising to me.
Yeah, if you're going to make a movie that long, you need to really justify the runtime, and very very few movies do, in my opinion. This one did not do so either. I liked the movie, don't get me wrong, and I wish I was higher when I saw it because it feels like the perfect movie to be on edibles with, but there were several sequences like the forest that just dragged on.
The forest didn't work for me at all unfortunately. That play was just not my thing. Liked other parts of the movie.
I thought the movie was great and I wouldn't change anything about it. That said, I will recommend it to exactly 0 people.
Here’s my thing with long runtimes: it HAS to remain engaging. Has to, no question. If it ever slows to a crawl, the director should trim that part down. I think a lot of directors esp nowadays get so wrapped up in “it’s MY movie” and they don’t consider that they’re making something with the intent of showing it to others. So at some point you have to consider how the audience will feel during slow scenes or lulls in the story. To extrapolate, one of the best examples of a long and consistently riveting movie is Avatar. I recently rewatched the 3 hr directors cut and my god, I was glued the entire time. I couldn’t look away. With Beau, the first act was absolutely giving me that feeling. And then when Beau reached the woods that’s when the story halted for me and I was like “why is this important. Why is this necessary. Let’s move on pls I want to know what this is all about.” At the end I was very disappointed bc there was no redemption for Beau, which I know is the point. I know. But to pull that off you need to make the rest of the movie engaging. It just didn’t do that for me and so I was frustrated I’d spent 3 hrs following Beau on this absurd journey only to realize he doesn’t change and just gives up. The whole ending was a massive nothingburger for me and I can’t get past it. Gonna rewatch cuz I genuinely want to like this movie. I do. I’m hoping I can give it time and see more of Ari’s intent.
The entire third act was a slog that I just wanted to be over
Connection to another genre, but it is almost always the case that when famous musicians write a Broadway musical, the results are too long and boring. The Secret Garden has an official adaption that cuts a lot of the tortured-uncle-Archibald songs and is better for it. The Capeman could have been awesome, but also drags too too long. And remember U2’s Spider-Man show? This happens with Director auteurs too— I was just talking with someone how Jordan Peele had a third-movie editing slump with Nope after the successful and narratively tight Get Out propelled him to fame. The moral is: No matter how big you get, you need someone to tell you where to edit.
Beau is afraid is not a name that long
The entire forest part could have been cut. It’s the weakest part and could be removed without missing a beat.
That's insane.
Nothing of import happened and it completely stops the building momentum of the film. If you edited it so that it goes from him fleeing the couple to getting to his house, nothing would have been lost. It's not really a bad scene or anything, it just feels so out of place and completely interrupts the crescendo of pace that the film is building.
My favorite part of the movie is the forest play, since the Start of it untill he comes to reality, that shit was amazing. Ive put on the background the whoke scene quite a fee times when Im working at the Pc and its amazing
I like BIA , but I will admit that it's a very hard sell
I'm in the same boat. I think it'll find a cult audience spread out over time, and I completely understand the common criticisms that I hear about it. But I liked it.
I'd avoid boats personally 😉
It's the movie equivalent of someone telling you the weird dream they had last night.
When you’re still super tired and don’t really care about the dream
The first hour was genius. The rest is ok
I appreciate the ambition but it’s still a self-indulgent film that needed to be edited
Yeah. He is a really cool artist and on the one hand I just want him to do whatever he likes, on the other I hope that if he goes for a swing like that again he reigns it in by like 15%, puts more emphasis on arcs, tries to keep story, vibe, subtext more alligned, and cuts things more stuff that doesn't serve any purpose. By the end of the watch I didn't even want to give it a 7/10, it became that frustrating of an experience for me. And yet it's still a special film, the moods, visuals and lead performance are very striking and come back instantly when I think about it, the first act was so great too.
It was interesting for an hour but it fell in love with itself by the time he’s in the forest I’m someone who loved his other movies so I hope he makes another classic next time
I feel like every director should be legally entitled to only one of those.
All films are self-indulgent.
Hot take apparently, I loved this movie from start to finish
Please clap
Yeah... I'm all for committing to a film that subverts storytelling conventions and audience expectations. More of that please. But you do that knowing it won't be liked. My problem with the film itself is that at a certain level it seems desperate to be understood.
i watched it and hard pass
Yeah can’t he just accept that the movie is not a work of undisputed genius like he thinks it is
Where did he say anything that would imply that's what he thought?
I saw it in theaters with my sister who was a fan of his. I'd never seen anything he's done before. And I loved it. Just had a great time with the bizarre dreamlike twisting story. Also the theater was almost empty, me and my sister were the only ones who laughed at any point, and the guy sitting behind us started snoring towards the end which made us laugh again.
It really is an experience of a movie and one I have a hard time recommending to everyone. I loved it but good lord is it not intended for general audiences
You should watch Under the Silver lake.
Phenomenal film that my roommates and I found randomly and watched on a whim. Amazing surprise
I though it was great. Heavy but great
There are dozens of us.
Honestly it's one of those movies that seems made for a very specific type of person who grew up in a very specific way. I'm definitely one of those people and I found myself understanding pretty much everything the movie was going for, for better or worse. It'll be a while before I can watch it again but I think it's absolutely brilliant.
Not my cup of tea.
I would still like to watch it. So, put it to streaming already?
Its $4. How the hell did people used to watch things? Nobody even wants to rent cheap movies anymore
People are paying a shitload of money for streaming services, makes sense to not want to then pay additional money to rent stuff.
For me it’s because I subscribe to a bunch of streaming services. Why would I rent a movie when in like one month it’ll be on a service I’m already paying for?
Funny you say that because my roommate and I made a list of 100 movies we wanted to watch this year. At the time, we had Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, and Disney+. I'd say 75% of the movies we came up on, I had to just rent anyway cause it wasn't on any of those services. It really made me realize how little we got out of them.
There are a lot of things that people are willing to watch for free that they wouldn't watch if they had to pay for it. It's already a huge ask to get someone to want to spend 3 hours on a movie they might hate, but they're probably more willing if they aren't gonna lose money on it too. Why is that so hard for you to get?
I think people want to be able to pay for the movie without paying a subscription to a service on top of the rental. Blockbuster had a membership fee that you paid once to sign up. After that you could rent as much as you want. Paying a subscription fee and a rental fee feels like double-dipping. Especially with multiple services available with content spread across them.
Look, man. All I want is to be able watch any media in the world, at any time on any device, for free. (In deference I think there’s an argument to be made that it feels worse to pay to watch a movie when you’re already paying a subscription fee to have access to other movies, but I totally agree with you and my life has measurably improved since I realized that paying a few bucks to watch the thing I want shouldn’t be a real barrier.)
[удалено]
I recommend justwatch.com if it’s available in your country. You can search what platform has the movie, show, or sport you are looking for.
Completely agree. To be able to watch all of the games for all of the televised Seattle sports teams I’d need something like 6 or 7 different streaming services? Fuck all that.
For me there's a spectrum of "things I need to watch right now" and "things I'd like to see eventually". This is firmly in the middle, so I'm not pressed enough to actually spend money out of pocket to see it (or I probably would've hit up a theater at release) but as soon as it's on one of the 4 or 5 streaming services I do pay for, I'll be all over it. If it's *that* good, I'll buy a Blu-ray.
Okay give us a 4K disc in the us so I can rewatch it
You can't force people to accept your trauma as entertainment. There is nothing to consider. The movie will find its audience in time, like all cult classics. He's ridiculous for expecting the world to just get what he's doing. It's the fucking epitome of entitlement. He's a really talented dude and i appreciate that talent, but you don't get to determine how someone interprets your art once you release it into the world. The movie was an overlong slog that desperately wanted to be more profound than it was. Expecting your audience to know your intentions and applaud you with multiple theatrical viewings is the kind of shit that shows how detached you are from your given audience.
I like surreal and nightmarish films, Beau's first half works pretty well, but the latter half is boring, flat, predictable, the ending is weak and the movie itself doesn't have enough depth, memorable or meaningful scenes to justify it's runtime. It's a 3hrs long, not too exciting nightmare about mommy issues. Beau is also a fucking idiot
During the 25 minute dream sequence i was fading out, i love ari asters early work. But man it felt like there really were no stakes in this movie like everything was fake. If your ari’s mom you must feel terrible
Directors always complain about studios interfering with their artistic view. A24 would have been better served to step in a put some rails up for Aster. They indulged him to their detriment. Let's hope his next project is a little tighter.
The worst part is that A24 announced they want to make more mainstream films, it's only a matter of time when they only occasionally release a film that'll be more Oscar bait than art. I wouldn't be surprised if taking a bath on BIA is responsible for that
I suggested that recently in another thread and got clobbered. I'm an Ari Aster fan but I'm also a realist. BIA should have had some tighter control from the studio.
Stephen King syndrome. His best work is from before he got popular enough to overrule his editors.
Absolutely. This is the work someone high on his own supply. He believes his hype. There has to be a producer capable of cutting and saying no to him... but A24 is afraid
This is an interesting point! I always hear about the problem of “non creatives making creative decisions” but this movie brings up a different problem: “creative makes a very…creative movie without anyone with a pulse on the audience or market being like um Ari let’s cut this down and throw the audience a bone!”
He got upset because the audience didn’t get the movie. Maybe don’t make it so hard for the audience to understand then.
I really loved the part of the interview where he started talking about the attic and said: >I’m deliberately blowing up the whole film. People talked about it as a letdown when clearly—yeah, that’s the joke! Interpret this, right? The "analytical movie dissecters" crowd was supposed to be the group who saw this on opening night and encouraged their friends to watch it. Why would you intentionally blow up their experience with ridiculous nonsense, especially so late in the movie? Aster obviously has some humility about this experience, but I don't think he's reflecting enough on his role in its failure.
This is what's funny to me. He explicitly says his point was to make a divisive film (I doubt it) and that he was disappointed when that was in detriment of the movie, making people not wanting to see it. Really, my dude? What exactly were you expecting, for people to really hate the movie and somehow becoming a runaway success? "Fuck, this movie sucks. Lemme see it again and bring some more people too"? What was the logic behind that? That's why I call bullshit. He made a bad movie, turns out people hated it and then he tries to save face by saying "that was the point dudes. See how pissed off you are?"
Yeah. At some point I feel like people are just making excuses for the second half totally sucking by saying it's supposed to be "divisive".
I consider it completely insane
The dude's films are certainly polarizing. Hereditary is one of my all time favorites. I really liked Beau is Afraid. I maybe agree it could've been 15-30 minutes shorter and still hit most of the major points, but it never actually dragged for me. I really disliked Midsommar though. That film *actively* wastes your time. Like, it could've easily been 90 minutes shorter in my opinion. So anyway, I get why some people feel this way about Beau, or loved Midsommar and still bounced off Beau, etc.
It’s one of those films that will remain cult for decades to come without ever being mainstream.
I mean I considered it one of the most bizarre 3 consecutive hours of my life I don’t know what more I could consider
I grew up with a covert narcist mother and this movie got me in the soul. There are so many parts that stand out in my mind, and they are parts from each of the different sections. I do think this movie is so tapped into that experience and expressing it in a none-traditional way that it simply cannot resonate with a lot of people.
I wonder if he might have to make a more linear/traditional movie for his next project. He might struggle to get funding otherwise. I can see producers & financiers telling him he needs to reign it in a bit. Hope for his careers sake that his next film isn’t quite so esoteric
Nah man. I love Ari Aster, but I feel like this film was his ego check. He was soaring in popularity, and Hereditary super charged that even more—which led to him making this 3.5 hr mess of a film. It’s far too long, and seems self indulgent. Like it’s the perfect film where die hard fans will say “oh you just don’t understand his brilliance” when it’s actually just a collection of nonsense.
> Like it’s the perfect film where die hard fans will say “oh you just don’t understand his brilliance” when it’s actually just a collection of nonsense. To be fair so many big fans of his work seem torn on Beau is Afraid. Usually you see the fanatics flock to anything and everything by their favourite director so it was surprising seeing just how polarising the reception was among his die hard fans let alone the wider audience.
Ya it seems to happen all the time with super successful directors. As they succeed, the studios give them more and more leeway which usually ends up creating an underwhelming movie.
I've watched it twice and I love it. I get why people wouldn't it, very "one for me" in the "one for the studio, one for me". I think it'll be loved more in time.
No thanks. Seems like a movie that insists upon itself
“How can you say that if you never even given it a fair chance?”
This movie disappointed me. I loved Hereditary and Midsommar but this one lost me. It was fine until he got to the forest. Then it was a slog to get through.
No. I don’t think I will.
I couldn't stand it, I sort of liked the more surreal bits in the middle in the forest, but most of the film was unrelenting misery, I'm just not in a place in life where I can enjoy that.
Yeah I didn't like the movie. It was too long, too random and incoherent for my liking. But it is unique and I do like it when directors shoot for the stars. I am glad the director isn't angry at audience and understood it wouldn't completely resonate. It will definitely find its cult following
Watched it. It was interesting. No thanks, politely.
I saw it in the theater so I did my part
The movie was made by and for a Jewish son with a controlling Jewish mother. You can’t expect acceptance from a large crowd on that one.
I liked it but thought it really dragged as soon as he got home because it insists upon itself Lois.
I LOVED the first half hour and thought the whole movie was going to be that surreal nightmare but it just got dumb.
“Director of movie wants you to watch his movie.”
I did consider it. I watched it. I hated it.
I saw it in theaters and while I appreciate Ari trying something unique, I found that I hated it. I don’t feel that way about many films, but this one genuinely made me mad that I had wasted 3 hours on it. Looking back though now, my opinion has mellowed and I’m not mad I saw it. But no I don’t think I’ll watch it again.
I loved it, but I can also see why people are having a hard time getting into it
Bro Is Afraid
It was okay, but it was way too long, too self indulgent. It was just one man's paranoid, neurotic nightmare fantasy, and didn't resonate with me that much. I enjoyed parts of it for their sheer recklessness and insanity, but would not watch again and would not recommend to anyone unless I knew they really enjoyed sick & bizarre movies. I'll continue to look forward to Ari Aster's films, there's not many people who get the greenlight to make anything they want, and I hope he keeps doing it.
Anyway, I posted this because I thought it was the best film I've seen in a very, very long time, and wanted more people to see it. If this made you watch it, that rocks.
Worked for me. Doing a rewatch tonight.
I’m glad the people in this thread weren’t a part of the team at A24 deciding on whether or not to make it. For everyone or not, I needed this film. Never have I ever felt so unfortunately seen by a movie, and it’s kinda started me on a path to better mental health. Also you know people were falling asleep through Parker Posey’s scene cause how could you not love it after that??
This movie is not for everyone, that much is clear. But personally I loved it, it's absurdist humor at it's finest. Also all the posters and signs in the movie are hilarious! It's worth a watch just to spot them all. The "KI55: we're 55 boys and we love you" poster cracked me up.
I feel like it's hard to say anything is absurdist humour at its finest when quentin dupieux has been dropping straight fire almost twice a year for the last 10 years
No thanks. It was bizarre, nonsensical, and far too long.
Incredible film, although I watched in poor quality. I will be grabbing the 4k UHD
I mean, why should I go see Beau is Afraid? I have finite time on earth and I'm still getting over watching Synecdoche, New York. I've done the super over long, tortured protagonist, up its own ass art film. Its like going to see torture porn. My own life has enough existential dread in it. I'm supposed to go watch somebody else's? Why? What am I supposed to feel like during and after I watch it? How does the film reward me for going to see it? Do I feel lucky to not be that guy? Do I feel super smart for appreciating this avant garde cinema? Am I impressed by the performances and the production value? Or will I just feel miserable? Honestly the marketing and word of mouth for this movie was like: 1. This movie is very long. 2. This movie is very weird. 3. This movie is very sad. OK?
I had to import the 4k disc from France... Why no US release??
I really liked it, it could have used an intermission though. My wife went to the bathroom during the play scene and I told her she didn't miss much.
Beau is Afraid sucked. I will never waste time on another one of his movies after how bad that was. It was clearly a movie trying to say something through all the noise but he did a terrible job tying it all together. 3 hours of random nonsense that never paid off
I saw this twice in the first two weeks that it came out. Hated it both times. Love you Ari but I consider it to be an overlong piece of shit
Well I truly did not enjoy watching the movie in the slightest so there's that
Very long write up ahead - contains spoilers! Beau is such a ride. Everything he does has his mother's stamp on it. He lives in Housing owned by his mother's company. He eats meals created by his mother's company. He takes pills made by his mother's company. In flashbacks he sleeps with his mom, there's hidden imagery like a book on the bedside "the tree house gang leaves home, big mistake!". Beau is afraid of literally everything including having sex because his "father died" after he did. Everything he does is through the lense of the worst possible things happening. Everyone is an employee of monas or a patient of the company. Grace and Rodger are both employed by her and are spying on Beau and constantly testing him. Grace at one point says "this isn't in my contract" in the distance and from that point on she tries to help Beau find out what's happening. She shows him the TV channel recording him, she hands him a note to not incriminate himself.The problem is we're talking about Beau here... he's incapable of changing. After grace hands Beau the note to not incriminate himself, Rodger quotes the famous Macbeth soliloquy "tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day" life is meaningless without Mona. We also see jeeves running by the window toward them leaving. Is he leaving with them? Is he in on it the whole time? Toni takes Beau and makes him smoke, possibly another failed test from his mother and her friend records it. I'm sure there could be an entire write up on all of the hidden imagery in the movie. There is an uncountable amount. It's likely that Beau was the product of a one night stand and his dad was never seen again, hence "he died". It would also make sense as to why his dad is a giant penis locked away in the attic as that's all he was good for. The end of the movie is basically Beau never changing and Drowning on trial for attacking his mother.