Beau, the addled midlife wreck played by Joaquin Phoenix in “Beau Is Afraid,” isn’t just afraid, he is terrorized: harassed, beaten, stabbed and even kidnapped in a surreal black comedy that often feels less like a conventional film than a three-hour panic attack.
(In the hands of high-anxiety auteur Ari Aster, of “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” fame, consider that a compliment.)
Thanks to his monstrous mother, he has become a man resigned to life without love or companionship.
For Aster, it turns out, there was never a second choice.
There was a feeling like, ‘Look, we’ll try, but we likely won’t be able to afford it.’”