Fans of the filmmakers of “Hereditary” and “Midsummer” are not shocked by the rating.
This past week gave us the big announcement of Ari Aster’s comeback to filmmaking with the Joaquin Phoenix-led picture Beau Is Afraid, and now, we finally have a grade for the director’s most recent movie. The feature film that was produced by A24 has been rated “R” due to its “very violent material, sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and profanity.” An incredibly crazy teaser was published this week, warning viewers to anticipate the unexpected in the film Beau Is Afraid.
Even though the film may be a minor change from Aster’s horror-heavy previous efforts Hereditary and Midsommar, the video advised audiences to expect the unexpected. The classification does not come as a surprise given that both of the director’s prior efforts were also given an “R” rating. Each picture shocked spectators with awful images that are still ingrained in our memories, thus the rating does not come as a surprise.
Even though Aster may not be going all out on the horror in Beau Is Afraid, as was seen in the teaser, we can anticipate a blend of fanciful and terrifying elements in a film about a family that takes place in the past, in the present, and in the future. The main character in the film is a middle-aged guy called Beau (played by Phoenix), who, as we see in the opening seconds of the teaser, has a tumultuous relationship with his mother that stems from when he was a youngster.
It comes to our attention that he is getting ready to pay her a visit, but that his trip is cut short when he gets run over by a vehicle. What follows is a surreal, time-hopping drama in which Phoenix ages and de-ages in real-time as Beau travels through the decades in a hybrid of live-action and animated depictions of their adventures.
In addition to Phoenix, who will soon be reprising his critically acclaimed role as the title character in Joker: Folie à Deux, the film features an incredible lineup of A-list talent, including Nathan Lane (The Birdcage), Pattie LuPone (American Horror Story), Parker Posey (Dazed and Confused), Denis Ménochet (The French Dispatch), Amy Ryan (The Office), Kylie Rogers (Home Before Dark), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Dune) (Life in Pieces).
Pawel Pogorzelski and Lucian Johnston, who worked on Aster’s previous films Midsommar and Hereditary, are both involved in the film’s production in some capacity. Pogorzelski is the movie’s cinematographer, while Johnston is the film’s editor. A guy of many abilities, Aster wrote the screenplay for his third feature film, Beau Is Afraid, as well as the screenplays for his first two feature films.
Although it is possible that Beau Is Afraid may not include frightening visuals on the same level as Hereditary and Midsommar, we can be certain that it will provide an in-depth look at the horrors of family relationships that have gone tragically wrong since this is Aster’s area of expertise.
You can see the trailer for Beau Is Afraid down below, and then get ready to see the film when it arrives in cinemas on April 21. The movie has been classified as “R.”
