Written and directed by Ari Aster, A24’s Beau Is Afraid will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 11th. The Blu-ray + DVD + Digital will retail for $39.99, and the DVD will retail for $29.96. This is Ari Aster’s third film, following Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019), which A24 also released.
Beau Is Afraid stars Joaquin Phoenix as Beau Wassermann. “Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home.”
The film’s cast includes Phoenix (Joker, Signs), Nathan Lane (Only Murders In the Building, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels), Patti LuPone (American Horror Story, The School for Good and Evil), Amy Ryan (Only Murders In the Building, The Office), Kylie Rogers (Yellowstone, Home Before Dark), Parker Posey (Lost In Space, The Staircase), and Denis Ménochet (The French Dispatch, Inglourious Basterds).
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The physical releases come with the following special feature:
- Finally Home: Making Beau Is Afraid
On a budget of $35 million, the film brought in $11 million at the box office. It currently holds a 67% freshness rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics and 71% from audiences. The critic consensus is “Beau Is Afraid is overstuffed to the point of erasing the line between self-flagellation and self-indulgence, but Ari Aster’s bravura and Joaquin Phoenix’s sheer commitment give this neurotic odyssey undeniable power.” Most audiences thought the film is “very long, very confusing, and definitely not for everyone — but love it or hate it, it’s hard not to respect Beau Is Afraid’s ambition.”
Many YouTube videos, social media reels, and articles have been published to explain the film’s ending and overall plot. Two words that repeatedly come up in association are “weird” and “trippy,” which is evident from the trailer, as seen below.
