After 3 hours, I don't know what I've seen.

I unironically LOVE this movie. It is DEFINITELY not going to be for everyone, but dear god did it manage to hook me. As someone with anxiety, it managed to capture it just about the best I've ever seen in a movie. This isn't what's literally going on inside an anxious person's head. Instead, it feels like Ari Aster is trying to make you *feel* like an anxious person would. It's a visual metaphor that produces a feeling that feels the same. Idk anyway I fucking loved it. This is proof to me that you can make a movie that's confusing as fuck but still make it entertaining.

Me after 30 minutes: If Ari Aster's goal was to make me uncomfortable, he's certainly succeeding. Me after 2.5 hours: I don't mind long movies, but this is exhausting. Me after 3 hours: [Spoiler]That penis monster was the worst thing I've ever seen. [/Spoiler] Edit: After seeing that Ari Aster called this a "Jewish Lord of the Rings", I'm tempted to lower my rating. I don't think he understands Judaism _or_ The Lord of the Rings. (Written as a Jew myself.) Sure, Judaism is associated with neuroticism and guilt, and LOTR is an epic journey. But at the essence of each of them is _hope_ -- something this movie completely lacks. [spoiler]Even when Beau finally confronts and kills his mother, there is no redemption -- he is once again destroyed by her. [/spoiler] "Everything I Own" by Bread is a great song, though. So at least there's that...

One man's journey into madness as he battles paranoia, anxiety, major mommy issues, guilt, childhood trauma, fear, mania... ***Beau Is Afraid*** is basically 100 symbolisms and metaphors per minute, to the point where I don't believe anyone can really decipher it fully (except for Ari Aster himself). The narrative is dense and goes into the convoluted and abstract territory but it's incredibly ambicious. Too ambicious? I support Aster for not being afraid and doing something unique and different but this was a bit too much for me. It throws A LOT of ridiculous and weird stuff at you but I feel like most of it is there just to be weird, it doesn't have purpose, it just bloats the runtime and confuses the viewer for no apparent reason. It's an endless loop of crazyness and it gets repetitive and frustrating after three hours (felt like five hours). I couldn't wait for it to be over and I came out of the theater exhausted. The final part is also the least interesting. An extremely long movie for such a small statement and it didn't make me feel much at the end. It probably needs a few rewatches for me to get everything but i'm not sure this deserves another three hours of my life. Beau-tiful cinematography and visuals, pitch black humor, great attention to detail in every frame, some deeply uncomfortable and disturbing moments, loved every set piece and Joaquin Phoenix is the best thing about this. His performance is what makes the weird and ridiculous pass in a lot of the scenes and keeps the viewer interested. Patti LuPone stole the spotlight when she shows up she was amazing. A hard one to give a rating to, i'm not sure I can do it. I'll think about it but right now, i'm afraid! (Edit: it's a 6/10)

Boy, I wanted to love this. The first hour and a half to two hours are amazing, 4.5 / 5. But boy does this film crash hard. The final act (or final two parts) are extremely weak. This film is an hour too long, and often there are shots that go for too long. I'm all for long shots but they are done too often here and don't add anything. As good as Phoenix is, the script is really poor for his character and by the end, he achieves nothing.