A24 has finally released the first trailer for Beau Is Afraid, Ari Aster's mysterious project starring Joaquin Phoenix. Previously known as Disappointment Blvd., the movie marks the third partnership between Aster and A24, as the producing company has also backed the director's previous cerebral horror films Hereditary and Midsommar.
Until today’s trailer, we’ve been kept mostly in the dark about Aster’s next movie. Since the director comes from a horror tradition, we all expected Aster to fit some scares in Beau Is Afraid. Still, the short plot description only teased that Aster’s latest project revolved around one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time, telling the story of his decades-spanning career. As the first posters for Beau Is Afraid popped up online, we witnessed Phoenix getting bizarrely de-aged for the movie, which ensured the director’s usual weirdness was part of the new project.
Now that we have a trailer, we can finally be sure that Beau Is Afraid lands somewhere between a horror movie and an indie adventure film. The trailer opens with an unsettling moment from Beau's childhood as he thinks back on his complicated relationship with his mother. The rest of the trailer is set to the incongruous and upbeat tones of Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger." The poppy 80s beat is juxtaposed with Beau facing surreal horrors and an intriguing mix of live-action and animation, as we're told that "from his darkest fears, comes the greatest adventure."
When Is Beau Is Afraid Coming to Theaters?
Beau Is Afraid impressive cast includes Broadway legends Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building) and Pattie LuPone (American Horror Story), Amy Ryan (The Office), Kylie Rogers (Home Before Dark), Parker Posey (Lost in Space), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Dune), Denis Ménochet (The French Dispatch), Hayley Squires (In the Earth), Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark), and Zoe Lister-Jones (director of The Craft: Legacy).
As with his previous films, Aster is directing from a script he wrote himself. Aster is also bringing back cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski and film editor Lucian Johnston for Beau Is Afraid, after working with them in both Midsommar and Hereditary. The trio did a marvelous job with Aster’s previous films, so we have high hopes for the next one.
Beau Is Afraid comes to theaters on April 21, 2023. Check out the new trailer down below.