Ok, so what do we know so far about Ari Aster’s “Beau is Afraid”? I had it confirmed a few days ago that it is 179 minutes. As suspected, Aster snipped an hour from his earlier cut.
The trailer for “Beau is Afraid” looks totally inaccessible. It actually feels like Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York.” If you’ve read the leaked screenplay then you know that it will very much play like Kaufman’s existentialist film.
Now we’re learning that “Beau is Afraid” earned an “R” Rating for Strong Violence and Graphic Nudity. Again, if you’ve read the script, not that surprising. The scenes people will be talking about the most with this movie involve —SPOLIERS— giant monster penises and Beau’s unusually massive testicles. I won’t say more.
This will be a film soaked in surrealism. There’s also a lot of existential dread as well. Joaquin Phoenix looks perfectly at home. What is it about? In a nutshell, mommy issues. Dark, gloomy, despairing mommy issues.
The film hits theaters on April 21st. As of right now, I don’t think there’s any festival rollout planned for “Beau is Afraid,” but things could obviously change rapidly. The best case scenario is that it world premieres at either Berlin or SXSW.