By Gary

Joaquin Phoenix is back in Beau Is Afraid and the film is dividing opinion.

The film follows Phoenix after the sudden death of his mother, who confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home.

This movie is very strange, and I am not sure what I have just watched.

Joaquin Phoenix is incredible but he does pick some strange projects to work on and his performance in this smells like an Oscar to me.

The film feels like 4 or so weird films all thrown together. I think I liked the first act the best, it felt the most real and relatable, rather than what was to come.

I got his struggles with anxiety and not wanting to be around people.

After being so mesmerised by Hereditary and Midsommar I was really looking forward to seeing this.

The acting was really good. Joaquin Phoenix never disappoints with his acting Patti LuPone was phenomenal in her scenes.

Even Amy, Ryan and Nathan lane had some great moments, but the first hour of the movie, I was really confused the second hour of the movie, I thought okay maybe they will start to explain a little of what is going on the third hour when it all came together I was even more confused.

I left the cinema in total confusion.

This is a perfect example of when art-house cinema becomes too much – the movie is inaccessible.

If I as a cinephile struggles to get through the third hour of the movie, I can’t imagine what it must be like for a member of the general moviegoing public.

Like, the first 45 minutes were promising, but everything after was almost unbearable. Nothing worked for me, and I even questioned whether I could sit through the rest of it.

The movie is far too long and is a slog to get through. It is also so obnoxiously self-indulgent. I do need time to digest it and think about it, but overall my gut feeling is that this movie really did not work for me.

To me, it was terrible, which is such a surprise since I thought Aster’s previous films, Hereditary and Midsommar, were quite excellent, albeit disturbing.

I see why this film is so divisive, and I am very upset to say that I ended up on the negative side on this one.

It’s 100 percent an original and unique movie, I’ve never seen anything quite like it but maybe that was a good thing.

My Rating: 4/10 (Too Weird for me).