Beau Is Scared, directed by Ari Aster, stars Joaquin Phoenix in the title role. Beau Wassermann is a multifaceted, mild-mannered, and good-looking man whose journey is chronicled in this surrealist horror comedy-drama film. He never experienced his father’s affection, but he did have a difficult relationship with his controlling mother, Mona. Beau, on the other hand, sets off on a long journey to attend her funeral after learning of her passing. As he travels, he is forced to engage in profound introspection as he encounters some of his ingrained problems and phobias as well as other terrifying supernatural dangers.
The drama movie, which was initially titled “Disappointment Blvd,” stars a strong cast that includes Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Kylie Rogers, and Parker Posey. With the help of this Ari Aster-directed film, the audience may experience what it’s like to be in Beau’s head during a continuous panic attack episode with a dash of dark comedy. Although the weakness of the mind is extravagantly portrayed, the story’s core themes—past traumas and the mother-son bond—remain firmly based in truth. It makes sense that some of you would want to know if “Beau Is Scared” has any connection to reality. Let’s investigate this now, shall we?
Is Beau Is Afraid a True Story?
The movie “Beau Is Scared” is not based on a real incident. This incredibly original story was first imagined by Ari Aster in 2011, when she admittedly contemplated wanting to create something “weird.” The director disclosed that he worked on the scripts for several years with the intention of making them his debut feature picture in an interview with the New York Times in late March 2023. In fact, he even recorded a brief scene in 2011 while pursuing his master degree at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
Aster stated, “It started with me just trying to make myself laugh.” Picture courtesy of Takashi Seida/A24. He eventually revealed himself, saying, “The screenplay evolved into this reservoir for all kinds of thoughts, things that hit me for perhaps reasons I didn’t quite understand. I created something that was comical, highly episodic, and, in my opinion, really funny. The director elaborated on the earlier draught in a late March 2023 interview with GQ, saying, “That was lot dumber. It was simply concerned with being humorous, thus I might even argue that it was funnier.
After Aster’s first idea to launch his career as a director with the script didn’t work out, he worked on “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” and went back to the original draught. “I wanted to preserve the jokes, keep the humour, keep the worldview, but get closer to the heart of where the jokes were coming from,” he said in the same interview with GQ. Aster revised the script during the epidemic after reading various great works, including Greek tragedies, and perhaps drawing inspiration from Oedipus Rex, who had some mother issues, and Medea, who killed her children.
Although Beau’s trip is surrealistic, his gorgeous and horrifying mother is portrayed in a very realistic manner since she doesn’t hold back when criticising her son. Although though Mona is not aware of the anguish she causes her son, it nevertheless makes his life difficult. Such occurrences are not unheard of in real life, as one’s family can intentionally or inadvertently damage their psyche. Therefore, some of you probably recognise this theme of the complex relationship between mother and son.
Finally, Aster made it abundantly clear in the same interview with GQ what he wanted the viewer to take away from “Beau Is Scared.” “I wanted the film to be as subjective as you can get,” he said, “and I wanted the feeling to be like you’ve been through a person—through somebody’s nervous system.” So, it is very obvious that it is the result of Ari Aster’s imaginative thinking and masterful writing and not something grounded in reality when taking into account all the aforementioned variables.
