Joaquin Phoenix stars as a paranoid man just trying to visit his mother in the trailer for A24’s Beau Is Afraid from Midsommar and Hereditary director Ari Aster. Unfortunately for Beau, it turns into a surreal journey through a world that’s “not safe” and seems to continue for years.
The clip opens with a balding Beau staring at a younger version of himself (Armen Nahapetian) and his mother (Zoe Lister-Jones). “I am so sorry for what your daddy passed down to you,” Beau’s mother says to an even younger version of himself in the next scene. “But I wanted a child, the greatest gift of my life.”
Back to the present, a nervous Beau announces he will go see his mother, and his attempt to make it home turns into a series of calamities that include getting hit by a car, ending up in what appears to be a mental hospital, and wandering through a bizarre animated sequence.
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“A paranoid man embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother in this bold and ingeniously depraved new film from writer-director Ari Aster,” reads the official logline.
Watch the Beau Is Afraid trailer below.
In addition to directing, Aster penned the screenplay for the film and served as a producer with Lars Knudsen. The cast is rounded out by Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Parker Posey, Patti LuPone, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hayley Squires, Kylie Rogers, Michael Gandolfini, Zoe Lister-Jones, and Richard Kind.
Beau Is Afraid is slated for release in theaters on April 21st.
