Ari Aster says Beau is Afraid is 'a Jewish Lord of the Rings but he's just going to his mom's house'
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Word has it that Hereditary and Midsommar writer-director Ari Aster departed from the horror genre for his new, Joaquin Phoenix-starring film Beau is Afraid (out April 21). Although where he has arrived with his third film is not entirely clear.
The film's trailer, which shows Phoenix playing a character who travels through some sort of phantasmagoria while attempting to visit his mother, is more intriguing than illuminating, at least plot-wise, and not too much else is known about the project.
A24/Youtube Joaquin Phoenix in 'Beau is Afraid'
Aster doesn't clear things up too much in a just-released behind-the-scenes clip but the director is entertainingly gnomic.
"I've been thinking about this movie for ten years," says the filmmaker. "There's a part of me that can't believe we're making this film. It's epic. Jumbo. Every detail has a detail inside of it. If you pumped a ten-year-old full of Zoloft and had him get your groceries, that's like this movie. I wanted to make a film where it feels like you've been through a life, or even through a person. I feel a great responsibility to deliver something amazing. It's like a Jewish Lord of the Rings but he's just going to his mom's house. I want to put you in the experience of being a loser."
Beau is Afraid co-stars Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hayley Squires, Denis Ménochet, Kylie Rogers, Armen Nahapetian, Zoe Lister-Jones, with Parker Posey, and Patti LuPone. The film is released in cinemas April 21.
Watch that behind-the-scenes clip below.
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