Beau is Afraid is my favourite movie of the year so far. Ari Aster levels up from genre fare to create his boldest movie yet. Joaquin Phoenix's tower performance accesses deep vulnerability in dramatizing internal anxiety.

Have a watch of my straight out of the theatre reaction review. The enthusiasm I had for this film equates to this video's run time. With a mix of trailer footage, images and my own footage, I present my joy of watching this film.

Read my full in-depth 5-star review here with images from the film:
https://open.substack.com/pub/malcolm...

00:00 Teaser
00:42 IMAX experience
01:32 The weight of trauma
02:05 Story Structure
02:30 Aster's Bold Imagination
03:15 Personal response
03:43 A bold film
04:13 Phoenix's incredible performance
04:25 Interior performance
04:53 Psychologically demanding
05:32 Close-ups and longshots
05:46 Purpose shot for IMAX
06:23 Epic - five-chapter structure
06:59 Dark humour
07:21 Anti-hero's journey
08:29 3rd Chapter
09:03 4th Chapter
09:27 Issues that resonate with us all
09:45 Incredibly unique
09:59 How I enjoyed this film
10:47 Initial take from the trailer: Kaufman-esque
11:11 5th Chapter
11:47 Midsommar easter egg
12:07 Countering some bad press
12:38 Its uniqueness makes it great
13:24 Human condition
14:12 Summary
14:35 Reviewing the chapter structure
15:01 Patti Lupone
15:20 PARKER POSEY!!!!
16:07 Wrap-up: what to expect
16:53 3-hour epic of the human condition
17:54 Recommend IMAX
18:15 Thank you and salutations

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