‘Beau Is Afraid’ Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Has Serious Mommy Issues In Ari Aster’s Surreal Dark Comedy

Surprise! A24 pulled a fast one over the weekend when those of us who bought tickets to a special screening of Ari Aster’s Midsommar were instead treated to a livestream featuring the filmmaker and Joaquin Phoenix. While both were obviously too shy to say much, they did reveal that we were instead about to be shown an early premiere of Aster’s latest, Beau is Afraid. Pretty cool swerve pulled by Aster and A24, and has definitely got people buzzing about this seriously bizarre mother & son tale.

On the heels of those shock screenings, a new Beau is Afraid trailer has dropped. Phoenix plays the titular son who embarks on a surreal journey to see his mother in the wake of a tragedy. But this trip, that Beau is already fretting, turns into a dangerous odyssey that would test anyone’s psychological mettle.

Suffice it to say, if you thought Aster had serious mommy issues after Hereditary, wait until you endure three-hours of him figuring his shit out on the big screen.

Also starring Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Kylie Rogers, Zoe Lister-Jones, Haley Squires, and Patti LuPone, Beau is Afraid opens on April 14th in NY and LA, the rest of the country on April 21st.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.