Beau Is Afraid trailer: Ari Aster and Joaquin Phoenix go on a twisted odyssey of epic proportions

The A24 film Beau Is Afraid, a “nightmare comedy” from Hereditary (watch it HERE) and Midsommar (watch that HERE) writer/director Ari Aster, is set to reach theatres on April 21st, and with that date just a few months away a trailer for the film has arrived online. Check it out in the embed above!

A24 has been able to keep Beau Is Afraid wrapped in secrecy up to this point, but the trailer seems to confirm some of the information that did leak out about the movie in the past. We had heard that the story would go something like this: An anxious man learns of the death of his mother under mysterious circumstances and upon traveling home makes an alarming discovery about his past. During his journey, he runs into various crazy supernatural threats. And judging by the trailer, that looks pretty close to accurate.

According to Discussing Film, the threats Beau faces could be “some of the craziest ideas that Ari Aster has ever came up with”… and Beau Is Afraid does appear to out-crazy Hereditary and Midsommar, somehow. They also heard that Beau himself is “an extremely anxious but pleasant-looking man who has a fraught relationship with his overbearing mother. Their relationship is affected by the fact that he never knew his father.”

Joker Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix plays Beau and is joined in the cast by Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, Parker Posey, and Kylie Rogers.

What did you think of the Beau Is Afraid trailer? Are you a fan of Aster’s previous films, and are you looking forward to this one? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Beau Is Afraid looks to me like it could be fun, but it also looks like the kind of weird movie that could wear out its welcome for me well before it reaches it conclusion. Especially if Aster holds true to his claim that this nightmare comedy could turn out to be 4 hours long.

Regardless of how the movie ends up, I do appreciate the use of the Supertramp song “Goodbye Stranger” in the trailer.