Beau Wassermann
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Apr 21, 2023 · Beau Is Afraid: Directed by Ari Aster. With Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane. Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home.
- (62K)
- Comedy, Drama, Horror
- Ari Aster
- 2023-04-21
Mar 13, 2024 · Ari Aster’s next movie, ‘Eddington,’ is a contemporary western starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Luke Grimes, Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, and Clifton...
- Jennifer Zhan
- Contributor
Jan 10, 2023 · BEAU IS AFRAID – In Theaters This April. #BeauIsAfraid RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2023 DIRECTOR: Ari Aster CAST: Joaquin Phoenix, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zoe...
- Plot
- Cast
- Production
- Release
- Reception
- External Links
Beau Wassermann is the son of a famous and wealthy businesswoman, Mona, who is responsible for building a large conglomerate empire. He grows up without a father, who his mother claims died the night Beau was conceived due to a hereditary heart murmurduring orgasm; he also struggles with a recurring dream in which he watches from a bathtub as an id...
Alicia Rosario appears as Toni's friend Liz. Patrick Kwok-Choon, Maev Beaty, and Arthur Holden appear as members of the forest theater troupe. David Mamethas a vocal cameo as a rabbi.
Development
The film had been in development by Ari Aster for some time, with a 2011 short film entitled Beau, that would later serve as the basis for a sequence in the feature film, and a 2014 draft of the script that circulated on the internet. Aster has described the film in many ways, including initially as a "nightmare comedy," "a Jewish Lord of the Rings, but [Beau's] just going to his mom's house," and as "if you pumped a 10-year-old full of Zoloft, and [had] him get your groceries."
Filming
In February 2021, A24 announced the film, then titled Disappointment Blvd.,[a] with Joaquin Phoenix on board to star in the leading role. The film's ensemble castwas announced in June and July. Co-star Stephen McKinley Henderson described Aster and Phoenix as "so simpatico ... their way of working together was like they were really old friends. They could get upset and make up in the span of seconds, it seemed. But the work was always the better for it." During a Q&A session on April 1, 2023...
Music
The film's score, like with Aster's previous film Midsommar, was composed and produced by British electronic musician Bobby Krlic, who performs under the name The Haxan Cloak. With the score, Krlic stated that "every step of the way [in the film, in relation to the score], you're with Joaquin, you're with Beau", adding that the score is meant to be a representation of Beau's mental state throughout the events of the film. The score was released on April 14, 2023, a week before the film's wide...
Theatrical
Beau Is Afraid officially premiered in Los Angeles on April 10, 2023, at the Directors Guild of America, with Aster and the cast in attendance. The film initially had a sneak premiere with a Q&A moderated by Emma Stone at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Brooklyn, New York as part of an April Fools' Day event with livestream screenings provided at Alamo theaters in select cities, as the audience attending was originally scheduled to watch the director's cut of Aster's Midsommar (2019). Further...
Home media
The film was released digitally on June 13. A Blu-ray and DVDrelease followed on July 11.
Box office
In its opening weekend the film grossed $320,396 (an average of $80,099) from four theaters, finishing 14th at the box office. Expanding to 965 theaters in its second weekend, the film made $2.7 million, finishing ninth. In its third weekend the film made $1.4 million from 2,125 theaters, finishing 13th. In October 2023, TheWrapreported that the film took a $35 million loss.
Influences
For an IndieWire Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, Aster and his regular cinematographer Pogorzelski discussed three key films that influenced their approach for Beau is Afraid: Jacques Tati's playful, dense comedy Playtime (1967); Alfred Hitchcock's voyeuristic thriller Rear Window (1954); and Albert Brooks' allegorical comedy-fantasy Defending Your Life(1991). Mark Kermode reviewing Beau is Afraid for The Guardian said the film had "narrative echoes of Tristram Shandy (both Sterne's novel and Mich...
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 267 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Beau Is Afraid is overstuffed to the point of erasing the line between self-flagellation and self-indulgence, but Ari Aster's bravura and Joaquin Phoenix's sheer commitment give this neurotic odyssey undeniable power." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 51 critics, indicating "...
Beau Is Afraid at IMDbA paranoid man embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother in this bold and ingeniously depraved new film from writer/director Ari Aster.
- (269)
- Ari Aster
- R
- Joaquin Phoenix
Jan 10, 2023 · The official “Beau Is Afraid” synopsis from A24 reads: “A paranoid man embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother in this bold and ingeniously depraved new film from writer-director...
A paranoid man embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother in this bold and ingeniously depraved new film from writer/director Ari Aster. The company behind Everything Everywhere All At Once, Talk to Me, Uncut Gems, Midsommar, Lady Bird, Moonlight, HBO's Euphoria, Netflix's Beef, & more.
