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Joaquin Phoenix performed almost all of his own stunts — jumping through glass, falling out of the attic, and tumbling around violently in a bathtub for a full day with a stunt performer, for example.
In case you haven't heard of it yet, Beau is Afraid is the latest film from writer-director and A24 horror darling Ari Aster. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix and follows a paranoid man who embarks on a guilt-ridden journey to get home to his overbearing mother, Mona (played magnificently by Broadway legend Patti LuPone).
A24
Unlike Aster's previous films, Hereditary and Midsommar, Beau is Afraid is less modern horror and more dark comedy (with a whopping runtime of almost 3 hours!!!). However, it still deals with a lot of trauma-based shocks. The film is a truly WILD ride, and here are some interesting details and facts about it:
Note: mild spoilers ahead.
1. Water plays a vital role in the movie, both in plot and visual details — presumably a nod to the influence of the Odyssey on the film.
A24
Without spoiling too much, the film opens and closes with the sounds and images of water. And the film is peppered with things like bathtubs, fountains, pools, the beach, a literal cruise (i.e. a journey on a ship!), as well as artwork all over the place that alludes to water. And, of course, when Beau's therapist prescribes a new drug, he's very adamant with the instructions: “ALWAYS take with water.”
2. After Beau leaves his therapist's office there are A LOT of weird things that go on in the background that actually foreshadow parts of Beau's journey.
A24
For example, a woman holding a sign that says, " I WILL cut off my own hands," a young man holding a machine gun, a woman frantically looking for her child, and a surgeon (covered in blood) sitting on a bench nearby, among many other details.
3. The UPS guy, whose face we never see, is actually played by nonother than Bill Hader.
Emma Mcintyre / FilmMagic / Getty, A24
Although when he talks to Beau on the phone earlier in the film, I don't think it sounded like him??? LOL.
4. Once you know what the "MW" branding stands for, you'll realize HOW MUCH you saw that logo throughout the film (literally everywhere).
A24
Eagle-eyed audience-goers will probably even notice that "MW" is listed as a "production" company on the film at the beginning of the movie — a very meta joke/Easter egg.
5. In the photo mosaic of Mona Wasserman, you'll note her image is made up of employee photos. And this includes people we've seen, like Roger (Nathan Lane).
A24
Thus confirming that Roger and his family were all working for Mona.
6. Although Joaquin Phoenix has been cited in the past for allegedly being a method actor, according to co-star Amy Ryan, that was not the case at all.
A24
She explained, “Before I met him, I thought he would be the type of actor who stays in character all day, and you navigate around that carefully, calling him ‘Beau’ instead of ‘Joaquin’ when cameras weren’t rolling. But that’s not what I encountered. I felt like we were naughty children in school being led by Joaquin who kept us laughing as we waited for 'action' to be called. On action, he was already deep in the scene and deep in character. Such is his miraculous talent.”
7. However, Phoenix did perform almost all of his own stunts — jumping through glass, falling out of the attic, and tumbling around violently in a bathtub for a full day with a stunt performer, for example.
A24
“As an actor, he wants to embody the character as much as he can, wherever he can,” says Aster. “Joaquin doesn’t have any vanity—he puts all of himself into the part.”
8. Aster actually came up with the idea for Beau is Afraid nearly a decade ago, before his breakout feature Hereditary.
Takashi Seida / © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
According to the film's notes, "With one day remaining on his lease and on the verge of moving out, Aster envisioned a man living in an apartment like his own, riddled with anxiety, afraid of nearly everything, preparing to visit his mother—only he can’t."
9. In fact, Aster made a short film called "Beau" back in 2011.
Marc Stamas / Getty Images
The IMDb synopsis: "A neurotic middle-aged man's trip to visit his mother is delayed indefinitely when his keys are mysteriously taken from his door. He is subsequently haunted by an increasingly sinister chain of upsetting events." (Sound familiar?)
10. According to Aster, the first draft of Beau is Afraid was actually more arch and cartoonish and less emotional.
Firebrandphotography / Getty Images/iStockphoto
"But even as it grew, it always functioned as this sort of hellish Freudian picaresque," he explained.
11. If you're wondering what the "central idea" of the movie is, according to Aster, it was to convey life through the eyes of a protagonist whose development has been arrest.
Takashi Seida / © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
“It’s not exploring a man's life so much as his experience, putting the viewer in his head, inside his feelings, hopefully on an almost cellular level,” said Aster.
12. I already mentioned the Odyssey as being a major influence on the film, but Aster also noted Borges, Virgil, Kafka, Sterne, Cervantes, and Tennessee Williams as a few others.
A24
There's A LOT going on in the film. 🤷🏻♀️
13. In Aster's previous films, Hereditary and Midsommar, the hero is running away from horrible family traumas that have effectively left them "motherless." However, according to the filmmakers, it's kind of the opposite in this film, "Beau has more mother than anyone could know what to do with."
A24
"Mona is overbearing, highly successful, and deeply invested in her son’s interior life from a great distance," they explained.
14. Partway through the film, there's a very dream-like sequence during the play in the forest. If you're wondering what that's all about, according to Aster, "Under hypnosis, he enters the play, and imagines what might happen if he were a more active agent in his own life."
A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Once again, it's a lot!
15. Although it takes place in a fictional city and area, Beau is Afraid was filmed in Montreal.
A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Production designer Fiona Crombie, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her work on The Favourite, managed to transform parts of Montreal into this fantastical (scary) world.
16. And Aster had a really close hand in all the details that went into the production design.
A24
Crombie explained, "Nothing is incidental in Ari’s work—everything you see is there for a reason, every sign, every piece of graffiti, every store front. Everything is designed with a very specific language that’s foretelling something we discover later in the story.”
17. The signs and surfaces in the opening were created from scratch, including store façades, crude hallway graffiti, movie posters advertising fictional films, and food packaging.
A24
“The graphic design element of the movie was a distraction during prep because I became so obsessed with building out the details of Beau’s world,” says Aster. “It was never over, and the design team was driven crazy. Every time they thought a set was finished, I came back with more posters, book jackets, signs, and ads. That’s what was fun about this movie for me — creating the minutia for this sick, comic world.”
18. Finally, in case you were curious (because I was!), the homes in the movie weren't sets, they were real houses that were scouted in Montreal. Yup, Mona's IMPRESSIVE glass home is a real place!
A24
For comparison, the spooky homes and dwellings in Hereditary and Midsommar were all meticulously constructed sets.
Note: some of these facts were sourced from the film's official production notes.
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