Earlier today I posted my guide to upcoming films for 2023 and this one is near the top of my list as most anticipated. Of course, this trailer drops right after I hit submit on the blog but here we are. To sum up my feelings on this first look at Beau Is Afraid: Fuck yes.

Writer/director Ari Astor is one of the emerging top tier directors in Hollywood right now following the success of Hereditary and Midsommar. Of course, teaming up with one of the greats like Joaquin Phoenix was going to make his third feature one to keep an eye on but I’d say that the hype for this one is even higher after dropping its first trailer. Aster has said that this film won’t be a straight horror film like his previous two entries but rather it would be a “nightmare comedy” and I can see what he means. While giving us very few plot details we see that Phoenix’s character is a bit neurotic and will be going on quite the trip over the course of the film.

This film looks like its right up Joaquin’s alley as he’s never been one to shy away from stranger roles. I got some major Inherent Vice vibes from what we saw from his performance. It also looks as if we’re going to get several different versions of his character as we know his role will span multiple decades so I have a feeling we’re going to see him throw everything at the wall in this one.

With a release date set for April I have this penciled in as the first major release from a top tier director this year so the next three months need to start flying by.