Beau is afflicted by terrifying, suspicious, and strange occurrences with enigmatic motivations and is unable to distinguish between reality and dreams. Can he withstand all of these assaults and pain? Does he do that to himself, or is someone else doing it to him? Is the man a victim or does he just enjoy acting like one? You have a lot of questions and options after watching the movie. The movie borders on madness and absurdity as it alternates between a domineering mother, suicidal nuts, decomposing corpses, nude escapes, crackheads, and criminals. But it's not Ari Aster if it's not completely insane, perplexing, or startlingly bizarre, giving you plenty of "what the ridiculous moments.

The writer-director, whose previous two critically acclaimed films, Hereditary and Midsommar," is one of the best new-age talents to have revolutionised the horror genre. It's amazing how he can turn tragedy, trauma, guilt, or grief into terror. The typical jump scares or other tropes deemed necessary for the genre are absent from his stories. The man is a devoted rule-breaker and boundary-pusher, which gets you ready to enter his absurd universe filled with troubled characters and paranoia. Although 'Beau Is Afraid' is made of the same stuff, it goes beyond your limit for craziness. The tedious psychological drama's lengthy three hour runtime causes it to indulge excessively as it subtly progresses in three tracks. You try to solve the riddle of whether his suffering is real or imagined, whether it is a memory or a nightmare. The climax of the underlying tragicomedy, "Beau is afraid to confront his controlling mother," occurs a little bit too late. Despite Joaquin Phoenix's unsettling performance, the agonisingly long wait is not as rewarding. Despite becoming an integral part of his character's terrifying journey, the actor feels overburdened by this responsibility in the absence of a clear playable plot.

In his most recent confined space thriller, Ari Aster amplifies the madness, but it is far too long, ambitious, and draining.