Joaquin Phoenix in one of the most unpredictable films of 2023: this from the director of Beau is Afraid Midsommar

what are you talking about

Beau desperately tries to get to his mother. But the world seems to be messing with him…

The Phoenix Odyssey

Ari Astaire needed only two films to make a name for himself in the public eye. While some knew his style from his short films, Legacy made him a rising horror star before Midsomar came along to confirm his status. And make it one of the leaders of sublime horror, art and essays (and therefore more respectable in the eyes of some) genre too often at the top.

Four years after Florence Pugh’s fiery trip to Sweden, an American filmmaker offers the services of Joaquin Phoenix. And to say that he doesn’t spare it (and neither do we) in this nightmarish and modern re-reading is an understatement. “Odyssey”which celebrates spirits as much by its Homeric length (almost three hours) as by its unpredictability.

Beau is Afraid, which has long been called the Boulevard of Disappointment, often leaves the impression that the four films met within the same plot, for which the audience can even reproach him. But it shows that Ari Astaire’s talent isn’t limited to just one register, although the ability to create a sense of unease is a common theme in his work, with a rollercoaster-like rhythm here as his earlier features gradually build tension. .

“The first Kafkaesque part begins the story, and the second part is like a black comedy”explains Nathan Lane, an interpreter for the doctor Bo meets on the trip. “The third part is more surreal, and the last one goes to unpredictable places.” And with a bit of over-explanation, can we add to that description that it would make a good synopsis of this film, which, if it risks being divisive because of its unsavory side, should be seen in theaters.

If only to fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of this feature film, the first one whose author had the idea, even before his short films, and which he most closely resembles: “It contains my personality and my humor.”

Which, unsurprisingly, is very dark and seems like a way to show her anxiety. Like Denis Menochet’s impossibly gruesome scenes, the audience is likely to laugh out loud as Ari Astaire shows that comedy and horror are based on similar mechanisms.

crazy escape

Unlike the Joker, where the craziness surrounding him ended up transforming him into a symbol, Joaquin Phoenix seems to experience events with a hallucinatory gaze and a much more complex performance than it appears. In a story that Parker Posey, at the center of one of the most striking scenes, describes as “Kafka’s Nightmare” When Ari Aster invents “Freud’s Odyssey”.

What happens on the screen is both visual and psychological. And recalls how family and mother-daughter relationships are a source of inspiration and anxiety for the American director. Except that his therapy is done with a camera in hand, in front of an audience that knows how to shake, surprise and not leave indifferent.

It’s best not to know much about Beau is Afraid before walking into the rooms to better appreciate the lapses in its tone and style, or the motifs that echo from one segment to the next. But one thing is certain: it will be difficult to get more unpredictable and destabilizing in cinema in 2023.