Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zoe Lister-Jones, Armen Nahapetian, Parker Posey, Patti LuPone, Kylie Rogers, Hayley Squires, Michael Gandolfini
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
A24 surrealist horror comedy written and directed by Ari Aster. Set in an alternate present, Beau Is Afraid (2023) centers on Beau (Joaquin Phoenix), an extremely anxious and paranoid man who embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother.
Best Quotes
Beau Wassermann: I accidentally drank mouthwash Friday night. You can’t get stomach cancer that way.
Therapist: Not from one time.
Beau Wassermann: I drank a mouthful a couple weeks ago too.
Therapist: I’m sure it’s fine.
Therapist: [to Beau] Do you feel like you’re going with realistic expectations? If the last time you were thirsty, you went to a well, and the water made you sick, are you going to go back to that specific well, expecting it to be safe?
Therapist: [referring to Mona] Do you ever wish that she was dead?
Beau Wassermann: What? Of course not!
Therapist: Well, it wouldn’t be so crazy if you did. We can sort of want these things, and also not want them at all. Those feelings can coexist. We’re here so we can air those kinds of thoughts.
Therapist: How’s the Hydrotipnol? Still making the eyes itchy?
Beau Wassermann: Only if I don’t keep blinking.
Mona Wassermann: [as Beau listens to her message] Hi, carrot. It’s Mom. I’m just calling to say that I’m so, so, so excited to see you tomorrow. You’re my angel, and I love you. Okay. I love you. Okay. Bye, sweetie. I love you.
Beau Wassermann: Excuse me, sir? My bag and my key were just here.
Superintendent: You’re f***ed, pal.
Beau Wassermann: Hey, wait a minute. Why would you say that?
Mona Wassermann: Your keys are stolen. That’s terrible.
Beau Wassermann: They were stolen.
Mona Wassermann: Then we’ll just do another visit another time. I can even come to you, so it’s not such a pain.
Beau Wassermann: It’s not a pain. It’s never a pain.
Beau Wassermann: What do you think I should do?
Mona Wassermann: I’m sure you’ll do the right thing, sweetheart.
Beau Wassermann: What is the right thing? What would be the right thing for you?
Mona Wassermann: [voicemail] Hi, you’ve reached Mona! Leave me a message if you ever want to speak to me again.
'Only women know women. That's the truth. Men are blind. That's not a criticism. That's their charm.' - Young Mona (Beau Is Afraid) Share on X
UPS Guy: Listen, I don’t know what this is. I have a package, and I only came in because of the smell, and the dogs on the block were all going crazy, and the door was open, so I just barely came inside, but there’s a lady on the floor. Well, the body of a lady, and there’s no face or head.
Beau Wassermann: What do you mean there’s no face or head, for who?
UPS Guy: I mean, I’m sure there is. I’m sure it’s here. I’m sure it’s everywhere.
A chandelier fell on top of it. And it looks like it dropped off the ceiling and it fell on a woman. And it smashed her head, it’s like it evaporated.
UPS Guy: You’re saying that this could be your mom?
Beau Wassermann: What? I didn’t say that! Why are you saying that?
UPS Guy: No, you said that to me!
UPS Guy: [to Beau] Maybe this is all a big misunderstanding.
Beau Wassermann: [as Beau becomes conscious] Did I get hit with a car?
Grace: There was an accident, yes. Oh, goodness. I hit you with my car.
'Nothing in life is more important than choosing the right companion.' - Young Mona (Beau Is Afraid) Share on X
Beau Wassermann: Am I dead?
Grace: No. No. You’ve been healing so quickly. And no organs were hit, and your bleeding, really mild.
Beau Wassermann: What room is this?
Grace: This is a room in our house. But it’s your home for as long as you need.
Beau Wassermann: What is this?
Roger: That’s my little assistant health monitor. Keeps track of your condition.
Beau Wassermann: Is my mommy dead?
Grace: What was your dream, sweetie?
Beau Wassermann: Her head just gone.
Grace: Her what?
Beau Wassermann: Her head.
Grace: Oh, no, no. That’s a dream. That was a dream.
Roger: By the way, Beau, not for the dinner table, but I noticed when you first came in, your testicles are significantly distended. Looks like a bad case of epididymitis.
Grace: Let him eat, Roger.
Roger: But we should get an ultrasound just to be safe.
'When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.' - Lloyd (Beau Is Afraid) Share on X
Roger: [to Beau] Toni’s happy to give you her room.
Toni: Yeah, no. It’s not like we have a totally empty room available, completely unused.
Beau Wassermann: Is it true?
Dr. Cohen: [referring to Mona] Is what true? That she was discovered with a collapsed head in her living room? That you were the first person notified, and it’s taken three days for anyone to hear from you? Yes, Beau. It’s true.
Dr. Cohen: A body is to be buried immediately, Beau. “It shall not remain all night.” Does that ring a bell? Do you understand anything?
Beau Wassermann: I just woke up. I got hit by a car. And I got stabbed.
Dr. Cohen: It was your mother’s unfortunate wish that she not be buried without you present. So, we are waiting, Beau. And every minute more that we wait only deepens the humiliation. Your mother’s body is being watched at all hours. There is no rest for her. There has been no rest for the people that love her. You need to be here Beau, dressed in a suit, with a eulogy. You need to stop the humiliation. It’s all that’s being asked of you. We’ll keep an eye out for Your Highness’s royal carriage.
Roger: [to Beau] You can’t fly with your wounds. The air pressure will rip you wide open.
'Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.' - Lloyd (Beau Is Afraid) Share on X
Beau Wassermann: Wait. Don’t you need to stitch me up?
Roger: Ah, it’s fine. Just cut back on the jumping jacks, you know what I mean?
Beau Wassermann: [to Toni] I’m sorry I was on your computer. I threw up. I’ll clean it up. I’ll clean up. I’ll clean up better than before.
Toni: I’m taking you home.
Beau Wassermann: What about Roger taking me?
Toni: Who the f*** do you think told me to take you?!
Liz: Aren’t you a little old to be getting adopted?
Beau Wassermann: I’m not adopted.
Liz: Yeah, you are.
'She will see your fears, and your pain, and your dreams, and your potential, and you will see hers. In finding your other half, the gifts of your life will multiply.' - Angel (Beau Is Afraid) Share on X
Toni: [to Beau] If you don’t do it right now, I’m going to make her pull my hair so hard that it detaches my scalp, and she’ll say that you did it.
Teen Beau: Are you here with your mother?
Teen Elaine: Yeah. She got me, and my dad got our rich whore neighbor, who he’s probably f***ing right now, on a pile of her slut money in Aruba.
Young Mona: [referring to Elaine] Is that the type of girl you’re attracted to?
Teen Beau: No.
Young Mona: Because I’ve noticed you noticing certain types. It’s okay if you are. You don’t have to feel embarrassed.
Teen Beau: I’m not.
'You should not be crying for your misfortunes, for your own sins. You also have been searched for, but you're so lost in your own selfishness that no one could ever find you.' - Angel (Beau Is Afraid) Share on X
Young Mona: [to Beau] You could ask my advice, you know? Only women know women. That’s the truth. Men are blind. That’s not a criticism. That’s their charm. Don’t be defensive. I’m proud of the man you are.
Young Mona: [referring to Elaine] A girl like that, confident, self-possessed. A man would have to match her. But you could. She should be so lucky. Any woman would be so lucky. You just have to commit completely. Nothing in life is more important than choosing the right companion.
Teen Elaine: What about eclairs?
Teen Beau: People hide razors in them.
Teen Elaine: What about rainbow cake?
Teen Beau: The colors make cancer.
Teen Elaine: What about liquid s**t?
Teen Elaine: Are you a virgin? Well, it doesn’t matter! I am, too. I mean, who gives a s**t?
Teen Beau: I have to. It’s very dangerous for me. It’s genetic. My father died.
Teen Elaine: Will you wait for me?
Teen Beau: Yes.
Teen Elaine: Promise? Do you promise? Promise me!
Teen Beau: I swear, yes.
Grace: [referring to Jeeves] When they rescued him in the jungle, they found him running around, shooting at the bodies. And not at not the enemy, his own squad too.
Roger: His own squad, Beau.
Grace: He was defending himself. He still is. He’s a hero, and he came back to nothing!
Toni: We’re going to finally put some color on these walls.
Toni: Yeah, you know what? You’ll just get f***ed up with me.
Beau Wassermann: I’m supposed to be leaving.
Toni: So you’ll leave f***ed up!
Toni: You’ve blown it! You failed your stupid test!
Beau Wassermann: What?
Toni: Everyone pretending you’re some sad old orphan! It makes me puke!
Toni: [to Beau] I’m not asking you to leave! I’ve asked you to f***ing drink this f***ing paint with me!
Beau Wassermann: [after Toni drinks the paint] She should blink! She should be blinking.
Grace: [to Beau] I see you now! Replacing my son with a demon!
Grace: Jeeves! Rip him apart!
Penelope: [referring to Beau] He was in an accident. His mother just died, and his father died before he was born.
Lloyd: “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.”
Beau Wassermann: What is this place?
Penelope: We call ourselves the Orphans of the Forest.
Orphan Ladybug Man: That’s right! Although many of our parents simply abandoned us without even bothering to die.
Angel: Push forward. Pray that you learn valor and be given luck. You will walk many miles. Dozens will become hundreds, hundreds will become thousands. You will pass through countless villages. But finally, one village will speak to you, some deep, essential part of you will recognize it, and you will say, “This village is mine.”
Angel: You will learn a trade, and eventually earn a living. You will know the pleasure of tasting fruit, and bread, and wine that is yours, because you have earned it. You will find a plot of land and build a house with your own hands. You will cultivate the land. You will live off it. You will come to make new friends.
Angel: One day, you will meet a woman. The story of your meeting will change according to who tells it, that you were lost, and she helped you find your way, or that she was off course, and you guided her home. She will see your fears, and your pain, and your dreams, and your potential, and you will see hers. In finding your other half, the gifts of your life will multiply. Sometimes, she will look like a man to you.
Angel: You will have children. Three sons. You will teach them what you know, and you will tell them you love them every day. They will grow into handsome boys, blessed with courage, and kindness, and ambition. You will share your feelings of pride with your therapist. He will archive them.
Angel: One day, an historic storm will sweep through your village and destroy your home. You will be carried away by a great flood. You and your family will be separated. And you will be deposited in a strange country. You will look for your family for days, then weeks, then months, so many months that you will come to lose count, but you will not find them. You will try to find work to support your continuing search, but no one will speak your language. You will be treated like a criminal.
Angel: Eventually, you will come upon a village wracked by an inexplicable plague. As you pass through, a man, deranged by tragedy, will identify you as the beast who burned down his home and replaced his children’s feet with their hands. You will try to argue your innocence, but this will only make you sound more guilty. You will wonder yourself whether you are guilty.
Angel: You will flee. Mad with vengeance, they will send an attack dog to pursue you. It will tear through the world to find you. You won’t know this, but you will sense it. And you will keep a detailed record of these impressions in a log. And over time, this log will become many logs.
Angel: Your adventures will continue for years and years. You will learn to distinguish birds by their call, and you will know every tree, and plant by its name. Abandoning all comforts, you will condition your mind to new ways of seeing.
Angel: You will experience great highs and profound lows, and you will look for your family until your life shrinks and fades into the dream of a ghost. You will come to wonder if they ever existed. Finally, when you are old and frail, you will collapse in exhaustion.
Angel: Oh, sweetheart. Why are you crying?
Beau Wassermann: Because I’ve searched for my family all my life, to the end of my life, and I’m still alone.
Angel: You should not be crying for your misfortunes, for your own sins. You also have been searched for, but you’re so lost in your own selfishness that no one could ever find you.
Beau Wassermann: I’ve been a coward. My whole life.
Angel: You will confess everything. After which, you will find the earth replaced by good water. Sleep will come untroubled. To the sound of distant trumpets, you will awake, as if by a miracle, at the foot of your glittering village. No one will recognize you, but the smell of the air, and the sounds of the insects, and the way the evening light slashes itself across the chimney of a neighbor’s old house, will unloose in you a torrent of vivid memories.
Angel: Over the last forty years, his memory had faltered to the extent that he couldn’t remember his own mother’s face, but just by breathing in the air, he was seized by the absolute certainty that this was his village. Nobody remembered him, and even though all of his neighbors had been replaced by younger generations, he recognized everything, and somehow he too felt recognized.
Angel: His home had waited for him, just as loyally as he had searched for it. Even the sight of the evening sun, casting slashes of amber light across a familiar chimney, sent him reeling into a flood of memories.
Angel: Not long after sitting in, he saw that the details of the plot were impossibly similar to those of his own life, and there were three young men on the stage who looked remarkably like himself.
Beau Wassermann: This is me!
Angel: And he rose up, at once exhilarated and terrified that it might not be true, and he announced…
Beau Wassermann: This is my story!
Angel: And the three young men immediately recognized the man as their father.
Young Mona: He died on our wedding night. The same night you were conceived. He died the very instant you were conceived.
Boy Beau: How?
Young Mona: By finishing. Into me.
Young Mona: I wanted a normal life. I wanted a child. He died on top of me. Inside.
Young Mona: [to Beau] I think about it, I want to rip my ears off. But then, that same trauma, which changed me so utterly, also resulted in the greatest gift of my life. I am so sorry for what your daddy passed down to you. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.
Beau’s Son #1: Can that really happen?
Beau Wassermann: Yes. It’s why I never with anyone.
Beau’s Son #2: Dad. You’ve never been with anyone?
Beau’s Son #3: Then how did you have us?
Strange Man: How did you come here?
Beau Wassermann: I was chased.
Strange Man: Your father is alive.
Beau Wassermann: What?
Rabbi: And Mona, who was a devoted mother to her sole surviving son, Beau, whom she loved so deeply, and who has elected not to be present with us today. Mona loved Beau with a love that could move mountains. In fact, I suggest when we leave, we check on the mountains to make sure they’re okay.
Beau Wassermann: I can’t believe it’s you.
Elaine Bray: Do I look different? You recognized me. I’m old now.
Beau Wassermann: You’re the same.
Elaine Bray: No, I’m not.
Beau Wassermann: You are.
Elaine Bray: Well, you’re the same too. Except for your body and your face.
Elaine Bray: My breath’s like pure wine.
Beau Wassermann: I waited for you.
Elaine Bray: What do you mean? Why?
Beau Wassermann: You told me to. I even have it in writing.
Elaine Bray: I wanted you to.
Elaine Bray: [to Beau] I like that you’re not all macho.
Beau Wassermann: It’s been really kind of a while.
Elaine Bray: Well, it hasn’t affected your virility.
Beau Wassermann: What?
Elaine Bray: You’re crazy hard.
Beau Wassermann: Really?
Beau Wassermann: [after he and Elaine have sex] I really thought I was going to die. My whole life.
Mona Wassermann: [to Beau] You don’t look especially overjoyed to see me, honey. I was dead just a minute ago. This is a miracle.
Beau Wassermann: [referring to Elaine] She worked for you?
Mona Wassermann: I sincerely doubt that, sweetheart. But if you’re right, you can let her know she’s fired.
Mona Wassermann: [to Beau] Actually, you’re in my house, sweetheart. And my house is your house, which it always will be. But if you know where you are, then you must also know where you just were. And where you just did what you just did, which I saw every second of.
Mona Wassermann: You didn’t just wake up suddenly and you were there. You didn’t just get dropped in, out of the blue, to your surprise, your deceased mother’s room, only days after what you believed was her death! You didn’t just get deposited there by accident!
Beau Wassermann: I knew you weren’t dead.
Mona Wassermann: I saw with my own eyes exactly what you knew, and what you didn’t know. You saw my body.
Beau Wassermann: I saw the birthmark, Mom. I know those were Martha’s hands.
Mona Wassermann: Now I know.
Beau Wassermann: What do you know?
Mona Wassermann: Everything.
Beau Wassermann: You don’t know anything.
Mona Wassermann: You think a mother can even help but see through her son’s blatant lies, and falsehoods, and endless schemes?
Mona Wassermann: Do you think I hear the absurd story of you missing your flight and that I don’t absolutely know, that I have any hint of a doubt, that you never, from the very start, intended to make that flight? The true surprise, the shock, would have been you actually coming! Now, that would have spun my head like a top! I wouldn’t have known what to do! I’d have thrown myself flopping on the floor, begging God’s forgiveness for ever having doubted you, but still I would have been struck stupid with disbelief!
Mona Wassermann: You’ve always acted like some dutiful, doting little boy, as if it’s throwing me off some scent. None of it’s ever been real. You spent your whole life going around, asking every half-wit you could find, “If I do this, can I avoid this, or will that happen?” As if you were born without the mechanism to choose. You let it all resolve itself in the absence of you! You make everyone do it for you! You think that makes you innocent?
Mona Wassermann: My own mother wouldn’t even touch me. Not if it was simply to stamp me out if I was on fire. I wasn’t worthy of her love. I hadn’t earned it. And I never earned it. No matter what I did, no matter how much of my deepest real self I denied and buried, and smothered until it was dead. None of it mattered.
Mona Wassermann: When I had you, I promised, “I will never do that to him. I will give him all the love I have.” You know what I tell people when they ask me how my son is doing? I say, “Your guess is as good as mine.” How I wish that were true.
Therapist: [as they listen to Beau’s therapy sessions] So the love was conditional?
Beau Wassermann: Yes.
Therapist: Ah. This is very good for you, Beau.
Mona Wassermann: Over three hundred sessions, and that was about as flattering to me as they get.
Beau Wassermann: Why did you lie to me?
Mona Wassermann: Do you want the truth now?
Beau Wassermann: Yes!
Mona Wassermann: Some things are for your protection, Beau, and I want you to remember that I kept this from you!
Beau Wassermann: Oh, this is exactly like my dream!
Mona Wassermann: Don’t you get it, you stupid idiot? That wasn’t a dream, that was a memory!
Mona Wassermann: [referring to the giant phallus shaped monster] I didn’t want you to know. Do you see now why I lied? Beau. Beau! That was your father.
Mona Wassermann: Do you have any idea what I had to go through to bring you into this world?
Mona Wassermann: You cry now? You need a mother now? Ever since you clawed your way out of me, I’ve had to dig down deep to my very bottom and squeeze the love out of myself, but still I gave it to you. I’ve given you my whole f***ing life! Which you took, and you took, and you took. And I squeezed myself empty! I gave you everything! And what do I get back? What do I have? Insults. And empty promises.
Mona Wassermann: I’ve been ground down to nothing by love, and panic, and worry. Is my baby hungry? Is he healthy? Is he scared enough? Of the world? And the fruit of all this anguish? Is grief! And hatred!
Dr. Cohen: [referring to Beau] The subject has thoughts every day around relieving the suffering of those less fortunate! By all indications, he has a healthy, functioning conscience! He just chose to ignore it!
Dr. Cohen: [referring to Beau] Even his supposed acts of thoughtfulness are emblematic of a greater hypocrisy.
Beau Wassermann: Somebody help me, please! Help! Help! Help me, please! Help! Please! Please! I don’t want to die!
Trailer: