Ari Aster’s horror film follows an anxious only child, played by Joaquin Phoenix.
With a muffled howl and a dull boom, “Beau Is Afraid” gets under way. What are we listening to? Are we in a U-boat, perhaps, with depth charges exploding nearby and the hull beginning to crack? Nothing so exciting. The location is a human birth canal, and the camera is taking us on a trip toward the light. A slap, a wail, and a new child is launched upon this great stage of fools. We also hear the remonstrations of the baby’s mother, who, far from being overwhelmed with joy, sounds furious—no surprise, since “Beau Is Afraid” is written and directed by Ari Aster. As we learned from his previous movies, “Hereditary” (2018) and “Midsommar” (2019), the untraumatized life is not worth filming.
Rumor had it that “Beau Is Afraid” would be three hours long. Not so. It is one whole minute shorter than that. Rejoice! Much has changed since 1942, when Val Lewton started work as a producer at R.K.O. and received specific orders: no film was to cost more than a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or to last more than seventy-five minutes. From those tough restrictions came a bunch of enduring frighteners, including “Cat People” (1942) and “The Seventh Victim” (1943). “Beau Is Afraid” is the opposite of Lewtonian; its adventures in neurotic obsession appear both unguarded and unconfined.
Denne historien er fra April 24 - May 01, 2023 (Double Issue)-utgaven av The New Yorker.
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Denne historien er fra April 24 - May 01, 2023 (Double Issue)-utgaven av The New Yorker.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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YULE RULES
“Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point.”
COLLISION COURSE
In Devika Rege’ first novel, India enters a troubling new era.
NEW CHAPTER
Is the twentieth-century novel a genre unto itself?
STUCK ON YOU
Pain and pleasure at a tattoo convention.
HEAVY SNOW HAN KANG
Kyungha-ya. That was the entirety of Inseon’s message: my name.
REPRISE
Reckoning with Donald Trump's return to power.
WHAT'S YOUR PARENTING-FAILURE STYLE?
Whether you’re horrifying your teen with nauseating sex-ed analogies or watching TikToks while your toddler eats a bagel from the subway floor, face it: you’re flailing in the vast chasm of your child’s relentless needs.
COLOR INSTINCT
Jadé Fadojutimi, a British painter, sees the world through a prism.
THE FAMILY PLAN
The pro-life movement’ new playbook.
President for Sale - A survey of today's political ads.
On a mid-October Sunday not long ago sun high, wind cool-I was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a book festival, and I took a stroll. There were few people on the streets-like the population of a lot of capital cities, Harrisburg's swells on weekdays with lawyers and lobbyists and legislative staffers, and dwindles on the weekends. But, on the façades of small businesses and in the doorways of private homes, I could see evidence of political activity. Across from the sparkling Susquehanna River, there was a row of Democratic lawn signs: Malcolm Kenyatta for auditor general, Bob Casey for U.S. Senate, and, most important, in white letters atop a periwinkle not unlike that of the sky, Kamala Harris for President.
