There is a famous saying that claims, “Comedy is tragedy plus time,” and it appears that some artists like to put an extra emphasis on the more tragic element of that equation. Some of the all-time funniest movies and best TV sitcoms boast a plot that would normally be found in a serious drama if it were not for their more absurd or quirky tones. Hopefully, you have never felt too guilty for laughing at any of these darkly humorous classics of the big and small screen.

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)

A film by Stanley Kubrick about a group of politicians and military personnel desperately struggling to find a solution to an imminent nuclear catastrophe sounds like an intense thriller. In truth, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, based on author Peter George's Red Alert, is a blistering, gut-busting satire, brilliantly led by Peter Sellers in three distinct roles.

Barry (2018–2023)

Just about the best thing starring former Saturday Night Live actor Bill Hader, which he also co-created with Alec Berg, is Barry, which follows a hitman struggling to put his past behind him when he takes up an interest in acting. The HBO series starts off as a clever comedy with effective moments of intense drama before slowly evolving into an intense drama with moments of clever comedy.

The Hangover (2009)

Most films set in Las Vegas, no matter the genre, fixate on the more glamorous aspects of the Entertainment Capital of the World, but not The Hangover. As seen through the eyes of three groomsmen (played by Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis) desperate to find the groom (played by Justin Bartha) after a bachelor party they can't remember, Todd Phillips' hilariously unhinged blockbuster boldly embraces the "sin" in Sin City.

Beef (2023)

Road rage is already nothing to joke about, but even an incident that small can evolve into a conflict of uproariously disastrous proportions. This is demonstrated brilliantly in Netflix's Emmy-winning A24-produced TV show, Beef, starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as two sides of a feud that slowly spirals out of control.

After Hours (1985)

Martin Scorsese is most definitely not a filmmaker who is commonly associated with comedy, but he has a few funny flicks on his resume, such as After Hours. The relatively overlooked '80s movie, in which an unassuming New Yorker (played by Griffin Dunne) becomes embroiled in a series of dangerous situations over the course of one night, actually does sound like an on-brand effort for the Goodfellas director based purely on its plot description.

BoJack Horseman (2014–2020)

BoJack Horseman is one of Netflix's darkest original series, depicting the life of a self-destructive, narcissistic, washed-up actor and the negative effect he has on the people he encounters. The series might not be as funny if it were not animated and the title character (voiced by Will Arnett) was not an anthropomorphic horse.

Evil Dead II (1987)

Even on a shoestring budget, writer and director Sam Raimi achieved "the ultimate experience in grueling terror" with the first installment of his Evil Dead movies. However, the second chapter, following Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) and his fight against possessive spirits, is one of cinema's most perfect blends of horror with comedy of a most nonsensically cartoonish degree.

Rick And Morty (2013–present)

The fate of the world, and even other worlds, often rests in the hands of the titular duo from Rick and Morty: an alcoholic scientist and his anxious teenage grandson. In fact, even some of the bizarre situations they find themselves in, while undeniably threatening, are pretty ridiculous, such as when an alien race challenged Earth to an intergalactic singing competition in one of the best Rick and Morty episodes, "Get Schwifty."

In Bruges (2008)

In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two Irish hitmen who are forced to take a holiday in a mundane Belgian vacation spot after a job goes horribly wrong. Only a storyteller with a sense of humor as bleak as writer and director Martin McDonagh could construct such a witty romp out of an increasingly dark plot such as this.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (2005-Present)

Perhaps the most definitive example of cringeworthy comedy on television is FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The dim-witted gang of bar owners (played by Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito) often get themselves into situations that are certainly infantile, but also deeply hazardous.

Fargo (1996)

In retrospect, it's a good thing Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-winning satirization of midwestern culture, Fargo, is not based on fact, as they claimed, because audiences might feel guilty for laughing at a story of an insurance scheme gone violently awry. Creator Noah Hawley's spin-off series would honor that same tone by telling new, seasonal stories set in similar rural locations and with the same quirky tone.

Succession (2018–2023)

Sibling rivalry of even the most immature kind can last long into adulthood. Exhibit A: the Roy Family from HBO's Succession, a wealthy patriarch (played by Brian Cox) suffers a stroke that sparks a war over his corporate empire between his three youngest children.

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

The life of a vampire, which involves committing murder to satisfy their insatiable bloodlust, is a horrifying concept. However, the beloved horror-comedy movie What We Do In the Shadows (which begat an equally hilarious spin-off series on FX) offers a documentary-style glimpse into that sort of existence that is somewhat relatable and even charmingly funny.

Only Murders In The Building (2021-Present)

A TV show about two elderly men and a young woman teaming up to produce a podcast documenting their investigations of mysterious deaths that occur in their New York apartment complex does not sound very funny. However, with Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez in the lead roles and scripts boasting a razor-sharp wit, Only Murders in the Building is a comical delight.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Anyone familiar with the work of Martin McDonagh should have been able to expect that Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri would not hold back on its heartbreaking material. However, the story of a grieving mother (played by Frances McDormand) at odds with local law enforcement regarding her teenage daughter's unsolved murder, creates a light aura of false security early on with its bold use of humor.

Killing Eve (2018–2022)

Creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Killing Eve is a wildly acclaimed series chronicling the intense cat-and-mouse game between a spy (played by Sandra Oh) and a skilled assassin (played by Jodie Comer). The thriller is renowned for its unique blend of high-wire suspense with absurdism.

Death At A Funeral (2007)

In director Frank Oz's English comedy, Death at a Funeral, anything that could go wrong at a gathering for a deceased loved one does go wrong, and then some. Daniel (Matthew McFadyen) deals with issues that include the wrong body being delivered to his childhood home, a guest going berserk after unwittingly taking a hallucinogen, and a stranger (played by Peter Dinklage) appearing to reveal a secret about his father's past.

Shameless (2011–2021)

One of the best American TV shows based on a U.K. series is the hit Showtime original, Shameless. Developed by John Wells, the series follows the Gallaghers – a large family from Chicago facing extreme poverty and other various, debilitating struggles, with little to no help from their patriarch (played by William H. Macy).

The Menu (2022)

At first glance, The Menu seems like the kind of delicious food movie that fine dining enthusiasts could get a nice laugh out of. Indeed, director Mark Mylod's acclaimed hit starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult is funny, but Ralph Fiennes' Chef Slowik has something planned for his carefully selected guests that proves to be truly "to die for."

Weeds (2005-2012)

Mary Louise Parker received three Emmy nominations for her performance on creator Jenji Kohan's dramedy, Weeds, as a widowed suburban mother who relies on drug dealing to make ends meet. It is easy to understand why Vince Gilligan was accused of ripping off the Showtime original when he proposed the idea for Breaking Bad (which he revealed at the Paley Center for Media), but anyone would agree that this show is much funnier.

Beau Is Afraid (2023)

Save a few notably fanciful moments (especially at the end), Beau is Afraid is regarded as a relatively authentic representation of what it is like to live with anxiety. Writer and director Ari Aster – known for his more earnest A24 horror movies, Hereditary and Midsommar – achieves this feeling by exaggerating every inconvenience our eponymous hero (played by Joaquin Phoenix) faces to the most absurd degree.

Bad Monkey (2024-Present)

How do you make a complex murder mystery funny? Well, for one, Carl Hiaasen's 2013 novel that inspired the Apple TV+ original series, Bad Monkey, already boasted a satirical tone. However, Vince Vaughn's performance as the hero, sarcastic former detective Andrew Yancy, especially brings the humor to the surface.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Former SNL writer and Anchorman director Adam McKay started to gain newfound respect with his humorous approach to more earnest topics in Oscar-winning movies The Big Short and Vice. He would follow those with an even darker satire, Don't Look Up, in which two astronomers (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) struggle to warn humanity about Earth's impending doom.

After Life (2019-2022)

Creator Ricky Gervais stars in the Netflix comedy series After Life as a man grieving his wife's death, but does nothing to make the process any easier for him. Tony goes as far as adopting an off-putting, devil-may-care attitude to push away anyone who offers solace or assistance.

The Death Of Stalin (2017)

Some of the best movies about politics offer a farcical take on even the darkest days in history. Case in point, Armando Iannucci's star-studded satire, The Death of Stalin, which is a hilarious and surprisingly accurate depiction of the aftermath of the notorious Soviet dictator's demise. Though some liberties are taken with the actual history.

Santa Clarita Diet (2017-2019)

Not every TV show about zombies needs to be as stone-cold serious as The Walking Dead, especially if you change the rules of reanimation, like in Santa Clarita Diet. The unfairly cancelled Netflix original series stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant as married real estate agents forced to turn to murder when Barrymore's role mysteriously becomes a walking corpse who thrives on raw human flesh.

World's Greatest Dad (2009)

Robin Williams stars in writer and director Bobcat Goldthwait's pitch black comedy, World's Greatest Dad, as dissatisfied teacher Lance, who begins to attract overwhelming attention following the news that his teenage son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara), has taken his own life. However, in truth, the insufferably rude Kyle's death was an accident of embarrassing proportions, which Lance has covered up with a phony suicide note in order to take advantage of the subsequent fame.

Dead To Me (2019–2022)

The phrase "misery loves company" serves as the essential hook for creator Liz Feldman's darkly comic Netflix original TV show, Dead To Me. Christina Applegate stars as the recently widowed Jen Harding, who crosses paths with the also grieving Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini). What starts off as the friendly bond that each of them desperately needs son evolves into a complicated grouping that sparks trouble for both.

Burn After Reading (2008)

One of the Coen Brothers' most overlooked dark comedies is Burn After Reading, which imagines what happens when investigative intelligence crosses paths with a severe lack of intelligence. It follows a pair of gym employees (played by Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt) who find a disc holding classified information left by a retired CIA agent and attempt to profit from the discovery.

Search Party (2016-2022)

Search Party stars Alia Shawkat as a young woman who decides to take it upon herself to find her missing past acquaintance. Of course, bizarre hijinks ensue, causing it to evolve into a far crazier situation for her and her friends over time.

Better Off Dead (1985)

One of John Cusack's earliest romantic comedies boasts a premise that would be a challenge to get made in modern times. He stars in the coming-of-age film as a young man who repeatedly tries and fails to take his own life.

Sweetpea (2024)

Ella Purnell earns laughs and screams leading the Starz original series, Sweetpea, as a lonely young woman who adopts a penchant for murder.

This year seemed to be the one that marked a pivot away from superhero movies dominating the movie playing field. Of course, we still saw well-regarded Marvel movies such as James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in theaters. But the tepid reaction to The Flash, The Marvels, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom meant that the wave of superhero dominance was subsiding. In their absence, we saw a rise in intelligent, adult thrillers… the kind that once prevailed in the 1980s and 90s.

Granted, some were found on streaming services. But others, like Christopher Nolan’s masterful Oppenheimer, were designed for the biggest screens possible, and drove countless audience members back to theaters. Here, then, are the 10 best thrillers of 2023, starting with:

10. Missing

In the digital age, these social media-driven missing person’s thrillers are about as cutting edge as you can get. Building on the momentum of the riveting 2018 film Searching, the spiritual sequel Missing sends Storm Reid on a global cyber search to find her missing mother (Nia Long), who disappears during a vacation with her boyfriend. Using security cameras, internet searches and global tech, Missing keeps us on the edge of our seats while also convincing us we could be detectives, given all the tools at our fingertips.   

9. Leave The World Behind

There are threats both large and small. You find examples of each in Sam Esmail’s taut Leave the World Behind, a doomsday scenario mystery that effortlessly shifts from the minor issue of a wife (Julia Roberts) distrusting the man (Mahershala Ali) from whom she is renting an AirBNB, to the major blockbuster sequences of self-driving Teslas trying to take Ethan Hawke off the roads of Long Island. No matter the circumstances, the danger always feels real. 

8. Beau Is Afraid

Thrilling can also mean puzzling, and I spent the bulk of Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid being very puzzled. I wasn’t alone, as some walked out of screenings of the movie demanding a refund. But that’s because Aster demands a lot of his audience as they follow the petrified Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) on a journey home for the anniversary of his father’s death. Only, it’s a surreal trip marked by unpredictable encounters, each meant to keep us off kilter. Mission accomplished. 

7. Fair Play

There was a time when Hollywood was obsessed with the financial industry and the traders who manipulated the markets for dramatic suspense. Chloe Domont’s Sundance hit Fair Play returns us to those Wall Street playgrounds, where a romantic couple hides their relationship from their hedge fund bosses so as not to create competition in the work place. Guess what happens? Yes, but the rest of Fair Play takes us to some wild destinations, tightening the screws at almost every turn.

6. Anatomy of a Fall

True crime remains a popular genre, and Anatomy of a Fall represents the best movie in the format that I managed to see in 2023. As the title suggests, there is a fall. Samuel tumbles from the top floor of the family’s home. But was he pushed by his wife, Sandra, while their son was out of the house walking the family dog? The “did she or didn’t she” mystery of Anatomy of a Fall plays out in a French courtroom, and features a showcase performance by both Sandra Huller as the wife, and young Milo Machado Graner as Daniel, the son whose testimony could be the key to the entire investigation.

5. No One Will Save You

Brian Duffield’s brilliant No One WIll Save You is a home invasion thriller that asks, “What if the home invader was an alien?” The entire films hangs on the magnificent performance by Kaitlyn Dever, a young woman living alone in a quaint house who holds a secret – one that shuns her from the rest of the town, and might give her an edge over her extraterrestrial visitors. 

4. John Wick Chapter 4

The John Wick franchise only improves with each new chapter. Really, they should have just left the man’s dog alone. But if not for that heinous crime, we likely wouldn’t get to enjoy all of the thrilling action set pieces that await us in this movie, up to and including the breathtaking fight in the middle of traffic at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. Or the fight on what appears to be the longest flight of stairs in the world. Keanu Reeves is remarkable, as is this franchise. 

3. Sharper

I knew nothing about Sharper heading into it, and that’s the optimal experience. The cast is exquisite, and they have been gifted with a razor-sharp screenplay about con artists climbing New York City’s social ladder by manipulating an escalating series of targets. That’s all I’ll tell you. Just know that it’s one of the best movies on Apple TV+ at the moment, and it made it to number three on this list for a reason.

2. The Killer

You have seen the story in David Fincher’s The Killer before. A professional assassin messes up a job, so the people who hire him strike back at his loved ones, sending him on a bloodthirsty mission of vengeance. But I’ll argue that you haven’t seen many versions of the familiar story told nearly as well as Fincher does. His craftsmanship is impeccable (because he’s Fincher). Michael Fassbender is deliciously quirky as the calm, composed OCD killer. The Killer doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it makes one of the best wheels I have seen in a very long time. 

1. Oppenheimer

Name another three-hour historical drama that brought you to the edge of your seat the way that Oppenheimer does. I’m not sure that you can. By tackling the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and the formation of the atomic bomb, Christopher Nolan wove action beats into a dramatic narrative, building suspense into the Manhattan Project and the Trinity Test, without shying away from the moral implications that come with Oppie’s work. What once existed as theory becomes reality before our very eyes… with Nolan’s harrowing finale reminding us that the nightmare Oppenheimer unleashed hangs over our very existence, today and forever. 

Now that the best thriller movies of 2023 have been handled, we eagerly await what the genre will deliver for the 2024 movies schedule.

This past year was notably a rough one for blockbusters, as many franchise films and tentpole releases failed to generate expected interest – but for the horror genre, the exact opposite was the case. Scary movies thrived in 2023, as not only was there a clear audience hunger, but filmmakers delivered some exceptional work to both the big screen and streaming services.

I personally ended up watching more than 40 new horror movies this year, and while it was a challenge to rank them, I’ve worked to put together my list of the best of the best. It’s a diverse mix of subgenres and tones, but if you haven’t seen any of them, I recommend them all.

15. Perpetrator

This past year featured a number of surreal cinematic experiences (a few of which will appear later in this list), and Jennifer Reeder’s Perpetrator is most definitely a mind-bender. It has a setup of a classic coming-of-age story, centering on a young woman (Kiah McKirnan) undergoing some… unusual bodily changes as she turns 18, but it comes outfitted with some wild world-building, a slasher-adjacent plot, and a whole lot of blood.

Perpetrator is a movie that feels disconnected from reality as we know it, and it takes full advantage of that atmosphere with plenty of strange plot turns and attitudes, as well as first-rate affectation-heavy, purposefully over-the-top turns from Alicia Silverstone and Christopher Lowell. It’s an experience to which you have to open yourself up, and it’s a trip if you do.

14. Leave The World Behind

Sam Esmail’s Leave The World Behind doesn’t need big swings to instill terror. It’s a cocktail that simply mixes a remote location, a collection of strangers, disabled transportation and communication, and some seeds on confusion. There are some big set pieces, but it mostly keeps things simple – and it’s ultimately very successful in getting under your skin.

Any film is going to benefit from having a cast outfitted with A-listers, and Leave The World Behind features outstanding work from Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, and Kevin Bacon, but the movie also just feels all too real and possible, and that causes it to stick around in your brain once it delivers that shocking final needle drop and the credits roll.

13. Evil Dead Rise

This year, a horror tradition was continued. Prior to 2023, we never saw a bad Evil Dead movie, and that remains the case following the release of Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise. The action is moved from a cabin in the woods to an apartment building in Los Angeles, but that just means it has new ways of unleashing unrelenting insanity in the tradition of the ultimate experience in grueling terror.

There’s a part of me that was disappointed the movie didn’t make a tonal deviation from Fede Álvarez’s Evil Dead from 2013 (a la the differences between The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army Of Darkness), but I simply like too much about what it does for that to be my dominant takeaway. Alyssa Sutherland makes a wonderful Deadite, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed we’ll someday see a team-up between Lily Sullivan’s Beth, Jane Levy’s Mia, and Bruce Campbell’s Ash.

12. Infinity Pool

Cinema skewering the ultra-rich is very much in vogue – from Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion to Mark Mylod’s The Menu to Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn – but Infinity Pool tackles that idea as only writer/director Brandon Cronenberg can. It’s an experiment in extremes, and it’s a feast for the senses while most definitely not being for the faint of heart.

Leads Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth are certainly no strangers to this kind of extreme cinema, but that makes their performances no less bold and dazzling – with the former leading the latter deeper and deeper into a world where, thanks to a special legal loophole, the super wealthy are essentially free from any consequence. I first saw it in January, and many images it unleashed remain tattooed on my brain 12 months later.

11. M3GAN (Unrated)

When I first watched Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN at a pre-release press screening, I liked it, but I didn’t love it. The characters, story, and design are all great, but I felt that the PG-13 rating had a harmful impact on the movie’s stakes and plot escalation. That version of the film wouldn’t make it on to this list… but then I watched the unrated cut during my 2023 personal Spooky Season marathon, and it cemented a place for itself in my Top 15.

The unrated version of M3GAN is only six seconds longer, but showing the brutality of the ear ripping, the neighbor’s face burned by pesticide, and seeing Kurt (Stephane Garneau-Monten) bathed in his boss’ blood prove vital in demonstrating the extreme danger of the titular killer doll. Let off the leash, arguably the most hyped horror movie of 2023 lives up to the hype.

10. When Evil Lurks

I don’t feel like I have to say much more than “the dog and the girl” to justify the inclusion of Demián Rugna’s When Evil Lurks on my list of the best horror films of 2023. While protecting spoilers, it’s a strong contender for the most messed up thing to happen in a feature this year, and it’s going to be forever what springs to mind when reflecting on the movie. But it’s not all that the Argentinian production has to offer.

The extreme messiness of the characters’ lives adds an extra disturbing level of realism to everything that unfolds, and that pairs incredibly well with the rules that govern the titular evil. It’s well-paced, gets under your skin, and it’s ultimately so bleak that it’s hard to shake off.

9. Dark Harvest

David Slade’s Dark Harvest initially slipped under my radar when it was first released on PVOD in mid-October, but if it’s not clear by the ranking, I’m glad that I caught up with it before the end of the year. It sports a classic horror story setup – with a community being dedicated to a bizarre annual ritual as part of a tradition to stave off devastation – but it has its own twists to add to the mix and a satisfying and appropriately dark conclusion.

Compressed as the timeline of the narrative is, Casey Likes and E'myri Crutchfield provide wonderful emotional depth as leads Richie and Kelly, and I particularly enjoyed Luke Kirby’s purposefully extra turn as the intense Officer Jerry Ricks. There’s also some stellar creature design, practical effects and worldbuilding in the creation of the monstrous, pumpkin-headed Sawtooth Jack.

8. Birth/Rebirth

Marin Ireland had a superb 2023. She has a great supporting role in William Oldroyd’s dark and surprising Eileen, delivers the scariest human performance in Rob Savage’s The Boogeyman (a movie that just missed out on being on this list), and she is the best part of Laura Moss’ Birth/Rebirth. The movie delivers an excellent new twist on the Frankenstein mythos that hits its highest highs thanks to Ireland’s turn as the introverted/sociopathic mad scientist Dr. Rose Casper.

Of course, not to be sold short is Judy Reyes’ awesome work as Celie Morales – who begins the film as the audience’s anchor in reality but ends up being just as demented and dangerous as her accidental partner in resurrection. Laura Moss brings new ideas to the classic Pet Sematary maxim “sometimes dead is better,” and they’re clearly a talent to keep an eye on.

7. Suitable Flesh

As someone who loves Stuart Gordon’s H.P. Lovecraft adaptations Re-Animator and From Beyond, I am very much the target audience for Joe Lynch’s Suitable Flesh, and I love it for being the love letter that it is. There’s an unsettling darkness to the body swapping horror orchestrated by the antagonist entity, but also a thrilling and brazen sexuality that’s both rare today and is a necessary part of the homage.

Pulling a gender swap with Lovecraft’s story “The Thing On The Doorstep,” the movie provides us with the magical pairing that is Heather Graham and genre legend Barbara Crampton, and the practical horror work (highlights including the decapitation of “Ephraim” and exceptional use of a parking assist camera) is tremendous.

6. Beau Is Afraid

While Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Midsommar are almost unanimously considered instant modern horror classics, I perfectly understand that Beau Is Afraid is not for everyone. Its' plotting is manic, the pacing is akin to an arrhythmia, and the sensibilities are extreme. I, however, am an individual for whom the film contains tremendous appeal, and I love it.

It’s a cinematic interpretation of crippling anxiety, and I love it for being as funny as it is disturbing and horrifying. The titular Beau’s whole existence in his apartment complex in the film’s first act is as nightmarish as anything that played on the big screen in 2023, and that’s before he gets on the road and deals with the unrelenting insanity that is his attempt to get to his mother’s funeral.

5. Influencer

Scream queens tend to get all the love in the horror genre, but not to be sidelined are the great femme fatales, and Cassandra Naud’s CW makes for a terrific one in Kurtis David Harder’s Influencer. At the jump, you think that the main character is Emily Tennant’s Madison, a seemingly vacuous social media maven on a splashy Thailand vacation, but she is just a fly to be caught in CW’s spider web, and watching the antagonist-turned-protagonist maneuver in the aftermath is stellar stuff.

I’ll admit that I saw Influencer’s big final twist coming, but that does nothing to diminish my appreciation for what the film does successfully – including its manipulation of audience biases and CW’s clever wriggling and brutality.

4. Godzilla Minus One

The biggest problem with the MonsterVerse movies is that none of the characters are particularly memorable– and Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One is a demonstration that things could be much better. The disaster unleashed by the titular King of the Monsters is no joke and utterly terrifying (which is why it qualifies for this list), but what makes the film particularly special is the journey of Ryunosuke Kamiki’s Kōichi Shikishima and his battle with unyielding guilt in the wake of World War II.

Instead of just waiting for the next time that Godzilla shows up, the film does a spellbinding job unfolding Kōichi’s path to redemption – plagued by first his failure as a kamikaze pilot and then his inability to embrace and protect those he loves. It’s spectacular blockbuster storytelling, and it’s shocking that the film was made for under $15 million.

3. Dream Scenario

Horror is the secret weapon in Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario. The movie features an imaginative story, an off-beat character for star Nicolas Cage, and a number of big laughs – but it’s when things get scary that the film really takes off. One of the key themes of the film is the inability to control how others perceive you, and that brilliantly hits home when the narrative starts delivering literal nightmares.

Unafraid to gamble with tone, Kristoffer Borgli doesn’t pull punches when people start seeing Cage’s Paul Matthews as the perpetrator of their deepest fears, and they’re not only freaky to watch, but it’s then enthralling to watch the consequences unfold. And that’s all without recognizing the escalating nightmare that it is for Paul, as mysterious universal forces tear his life to ribbons for seemingly no reason.

2. No One Will Save You

Writer/director Brian Duffield’s Spontaneous made my personal Top 10 list when it was released in 2020, so I was naturally outfitted with high expectations prior to seeing his 2023 follow-up, No One Will Save You. I went in simply hoping to see a rad home invasion film where the invaders are classic grey aliens, but it’s really so much more, and it blew me away.

The fact that there’s no dialogue never feels like a gimmick, but it does make the film a showcase for the phenomenal acting talents of Kaitlyn Dever, as we understand everything she is feeling without the need for words. The tight narrative is not only thrilling and frequently surprising (including its bonkers ending), but the whole structure can be looked at as a fascinating reflection of the five stages of grief. It’s remarkable, and in most years, it would probably rank as my favorite of the year, but in 2023 we also got…

1. Talk To Me

Danny and Michael Phillipou's Talk To Me sports my favorite high concept plot of the year: what if teens treated possession like a party drug? This idea is a natural avenue for fun – centering on a group of charismatic teens excited by the taboo new “thing” – but when it makes its real full dive into terror, it’s akin to one’s grip on the ceramic hand at the center of the story in that it doesn’t let go.

Newcomer Sophie Wilde instantly establishes herself as a stunning screen presence (hopeful future scream queen?), and the way that the film both nimbly dances around tropes and keeps certain questions unanswered is masterful. It’s at times a brutal experience (you have to be careful not to bite your own tongue witnessing the intense scenes of Joe Bird’s Riley smashing his own head), and in addition to being my favorite horror movie of the year, Talk To Me features my favorite scary scene of the year: Mia’s glimpse into hell.

Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming days and weeks for more of our lists ranking the best of the best films of 2023, and get ready for all of the cinematic scares on the way in 2024 with our upcoming horror movies guide.

Alright… here we go. 

For years, I’ve been a fan of Ari Aster. While I didn't see last two films in theaters (as I was deep into college at that point), I became a massive lover of both Midsommar and Hereditary after the fact, considering them some of the best A24 horror movies – and honestly, some of the best horror movies of all time. 

So of course, when I heard that Aster was working on another movie, I got excited. The title Beau is Afraid was something I could get behind – and when I found out that it was going to instead be more of a dark comedy, that got me even more excited. 

The film had its wide release in April, and I wasn't able to head out to the theater thanks to several things just popping up and preventing me from going. But I recently decided to watch the movie for the first time and wow, yeah… I have a lot of thoughts on this film that I need to get out now. 

As I Expected, The Cinematography Is Amazing

I mean, it’s not that surprising that the cinematography for Beau is Afraid is out of this world amazing. Ari Aster always pays so much attention to each and every one of his shots that it doesn’t shock me that even in this film, every frame feels like it’s made with intent, purpose and development, and not just there to move one character to another location. 

For example, that whole entire car scene near the first act of the film, when Toni and her friend are driving Beau around the block and we see flashbacks to his younger years and how he met Elaine. Every single shot of that is painted so beautifully and kept me intrigued. 

Even the beginning scene – you know what I’m talking about. I was so confused at first as to what was going on, but then when it cut to the title sequence after hearing a mother scream for her child – ooh, I knew I was going to be in for a ride. 

But Man… This Movie Is Trippy As All Heck

This movie started off strange and it ended even stranger. 

There are some movies out there that I really like that make you think, and some that are just plain weird. Some of the them, I’ve discovered through social media such as TikTok horror movies or Twitter recommendations. Others I’ve found on my own. 

I would not call Beau is Afraid “plain weird,” but I would say that it walks dangerously close on that line. 

The whole premise of the movie is about Beau trying to find his way home after he finds out something horrible about his mother, and the intense journey it takes to get there. And while he goes out there, he embraces his darkest fears. But some of his darkest fears are strange as heck and the instances he runs into are unbelievable and not necessarily in a good way. 

I have to say, I’m quite in the middle on this movie. I’ve heard a lot of people say you either love it or hate it and I’m neither – I can see why some would hate it, as there are moments that are just so weird and instances that feel like they drag on – such as Beau in the wilderness. But there’s enough here where there is a compelling story, one that did captivate me for some time. 

Joaquin Phoenix Was The Main Reason I Had To Keep Watching 

Even if there was enough here for me to keep watching, about halfway through, I did admittedlyt start to grow a little weary of the strange instances and storyline that this tale was leading towards, but you want to know what really got me through it? Joaquin Phoenix. 

I’ve been a big fan of the actor for years, before he received his Academy Award for Joker, or even starred in Her – heck, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure Phoenix was the reason I even loved Gladiator in the first place. The actor is amazing at what he does, and captures the role perfectly every damn time. 

Which is why I literally could not look away. Phoenix is the center of this movie, and while there are plenty of strange moments that may make you scratch your head, they’re all pulled together by his brilliant acting performance, one that I know would be harder for someone else to pull off. I could never picture anyone else as Beau. There are so many cool things about this man and this movie is now one of them.

I Can’t Get Over How Well The Casting Is For Young Beau And Older Beau

Real talk – when I watched the first trailer for Beau is Afraid, I thought that the young Beau was just a digitally de-aged Phoenix because he looked that similar to him. 

Casting is such an integral part of any movie or television show – my favorite example being the kid versions of the teenagers in the teen drama, Euphoria – but this movie gave them a run for their money. Armen Nahapetian was the absolute best choice for this role and he rocked it in every scene he was in and I honestly wish he could have been in more flashbacks to give more detail to Beau’s story. 

This casting is one I won’t forget, and honestly, should be a lesson for anyone who is trying to get into the casting side of filmmaking. 

I’m Not Entirely Sure What World This Film Takes Place In

I’m so confused on where this movie takes place. I understand that it’s certainly not one of our own, but there are so many strange moments that truly made me wonder what Aster was going for when creating his version of dystopia. 

It almost feels like an alternate reality to our own Earth because as much crime as there could be in a city, the amount we see in the beginning seems unheard of, at least to me. It feels overwhelming at certain times. And in this reality, it seems taking drugs daily is just as normal as breathing. They have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner – it’s a strange circumstance and I don’t know how to properly feel about it. 

This Movie Takes So Many Twists And Turns That It’s Hard To Keep Up

I legit had no idea where this movie was going at certain points. I thought I had an idea, and then it would get flipped upside down on its head and make me question everything I just thought. There are so many twists and turns my poor little brain was trying to figure out who got where and how we got there. 

I really don’t want to spoil anything for those who might not have seen the movie, but let’s just say that things turn even more wild towards the end of the film. It certainly makes it more entertaining, but it’s still hard to understand completely. 

The Ending Is One Of The Most Confusing Ones I’ve Ever Witnessed

The Beau is Afraid ending is one that I really don’t understand, and honestly, I’m going to talk about it here so spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the end of Beau is Afraid!!

In this movie, I’d almost like to say that there wasn’t even that much of a journey on this within an actual timeframe, but rather, it was the journey within Beau’s mind to come to terms with who he is and his family. Him learning about his father, who is actually a Giant Penis monster, to Mona actually being alive, to the whole climax of the end before Beau apparently drowns himself – it all made me so confused. 

Because at the end of the day, I felt as if this narrator was so unreliable and that I couldn’t trust anything that was being presented on screen because everything was so strange. A part of me doesn’t even know if Beau is actually dead and he didn’t just imagine this all in his head. Maybe he’s not even there and this was all a dream – either way, it was a lot. 

While I’m not the biggest fan of Beau is Afraid, I will say that it made for good conversation with my boyfriend and me, and it certainly is a film that will live on in Ari Aster’s filmography. Either way, I don’t think I’ll be watching this three-hour film for some time – at least until I can properly understand that ending. 

The reactions below contain NO SPOILERS! So you’re safe to keep reading if you haven’t seen Beau Is Afraid yet.

When the reviews dropped for Beau Is Afraid — the latest offering from director Ari Aster — many critics were impressed with the cinematic feat, including our own Eric Eisenberg, who rated the hilarious and insane film 4.5 out of 5 stars. Others, however, seemed unsure about what they’d experienced, throwing out words like “chaos,” “anxiety” and “panic attack." The movie received a wider release in theaters Friday, pulling in $2.7 million at the box office this weekend (amid another terrific showing for The Super Mario Bros. Movie), and audiences are taking to social media with their own opinions of the A24 nightmare comedy. 

It was obvious from the jump that this was going to be a divisive movie, to be honest. It sees Joaquin Phoenix taking on another extreme role in the titular character, who embarks on a surreal odyssey to get to his mother’s house after her sudden death. By the time Beau is Afraid's ending rolled around three hours later, audience members seemed stunned — though they don’t agree (or don’t know!) whether that’s a good or a bad thing. As one TikToker put it: 

While some viewers were quick to call Ari Aster's latest one of their “faves of the year so far,” the general consensus of those who liked the movie (“enjoyed” may be overstating it), seemed perplexed and affected, deducing that that must mean it was good, right? According to this Twitter user: 

Many of the positive reactions almost seemed to be reluctant, like fans were talking themselves into liking the film, including this viewer, who wrote: 

While there were plenty of people who said they wanted to see the movie again — and some already planning their third viewing — others lamented never being able to get their three hours back. This TikTok user seemed nearly speechless, until finally finding the word to express her feelings about the flick: 

Another patron tagged Cinemark in their tweet, asking about the possibility of getting a refund: 

That is pretty bad, if you’d have rather been at work than the movies. Another social media user, meanwhile, refused to accept even the possibility that one could have liked it, tweeting: 

Whether it is an impossible movie to like, or — as this Twitter fan said — there’s “magic in discomfort,” the pain elicited by Ari Aster through Joaquin Phoenix seems to be pretty universally agreed upon. Maybe it comes down to expectation and one’s definition of art. The fan continued: 

Audiences reactions to Beau Is Afraid are certainly all over the board, and it’s pretty amusing to see how polarizing the opinions are. In short, some loved the experience, others despised it, and — probably more than anything else — others aren't quite sure what to think. Check your local theaters to see if the Joaquin Phoenix flick is playing near you, and take a peek at our schedule of 2023 new movie releases to see what else is set to hit the big screen soon. 

SPOILER WARNING: The following article gives away just about all of the most important details from Beau Is Afraid, so unless you have taken part in this perplexing journey, act like our title character and try really, really hard to be careful.

Personally, I am convinced that there is not a more unique, ambitious, and demented (a term I use admirably here) voice in horror cinema working today than Ari Aster. The filmmaker made his feature-length debut with a thriller that was quickly regarded by many as one of the best horror movies ever made in 2018’s Hereditary, which he followed up just a year later with the nearly as unsettling Midsommar. However, while his latest feature-length effort, Beau Is Afraid, is certainly disturbing enough to count as a “horror movie,” calling it so may be doing it a disservice.

The movie is many things: a commentary on existential dread exaggerated to nearly apocalyptic proportions, a surreal fantasy adventure on par with The Wizard of Oz in terms of visual scope, a three-hour, psychedelic panic attack, etc. At its core, however, it is the story of a deeply neurotic, middle-aged hypochondriac (Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix, in one of his most demanding performances yet) and his relentlessly terrifying, absurdly surreal, ongoing struggle to travel to his mother’s house. Does he finally make it to his destination? What becomes of our damaged hero? And what the hell does it all mean? Read on as we attempt to explain the Beau Is Afraid ending as best we can, starting with a basic breakdown of the final act.

What Happens At The End Of Beau Is Afraid?

When Beau Wassermann finally makes it to his destination, the funeral for his extravagantly wealthy mother, Mona (portrayed in her younger years by Zoe Lister-Jones), has already ended, but he learns he is not the only guest who arrived late when the woman he fell in love with as a teen, Elaine Bray (played here by Parker Posey and in flashbacks by Julia Antonelli), shows up. The reunited pair go up to Mona’s bedroom to have sex to Mariah Carey’s “Aways Be My Baby” and, all the while, Beau fears that this sexual encounter (his first) will kill him, just like how his father died at the moment his conception, as his mother claimed. However, it is Elaine who dies by the end, at which point Beau discovers his mother (Tony winner Patti LuPone) is alive and saw the whole thing.

The ensuing conversation between the fractured mother and son could be better described as a scornful onslaught of coldly unsympathetic remarks toward Beau, intensified by a series of heart wrenching reveals. For starters, like most of the characters Beau encountered throughout his journey, his therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson) is Mona’s employee and their sessions were merely her way of keeping tabs on him. He then learns that a recurring dream involving his mother locking a boy up in her attic is actually a memory of the last time he saw his brother and also hidden up there is his real, live father: a giant penis-shaped monster. Yet, the most devastating reveal is Mona’s long-standing, deep-seated hatred for her son, which compels Beau to strangle his mother, supposedly, to death.

Traumatized by his actions, Beau runs out of the house and finds a motorboat that he takes out into the water and, unwittingly, right into a stadium where his mother (a master at faking her death, apparently) puts him on trial for his selfish, traitorous acts against her. Unfairly unable to defend himself against video evidence that twists key moments from the film against his favor, Beau has no choice but to wistfully reflect on his somber existence before succumbing to his boat’s loudly malfunctioning motor as it reaches the point of explosion.

The Final Act (And Entire Film) Is An Epic Meditation On Guilt 

Throughout Aster’s filmography so far (including his short films) lie themes of dysfunctional relationships and psychological manipulation. Hereditary chronicles a family’s destruction in the wake of tragedy, but is revealed to be all part of a demonic cult’s planning, and Midsommar (which Aster based on his own experience with a break-up) sees Dani (Florence Pugh) and Chrisitian’s (Jack Reynor) one-sided relationship reach its tumultuous peak as they and their friends insidiously fall prey to a deadly cult. Beau Is Afraid is, arguably, the strongest example of these themes in an Aster film, but with the major differentiator being the inclusion of guilt as a major factor.

As we come to realize, Mona has been treating Beau as her puppet since the beginning, ruling over every aspect of his life — from his decrepit apartment building, which she owns, to the people he interacts with, whom she employs — with painstaking control. To make matters worse, she takes every opportunity she can to subtly (at least, at first, that is) make him feel guilty for merely existing, with the lie that his conception killed his father being the conception of his neuroses. This prevents him from experiencing love and keeps him in a constant fear of death, with the former being a potential cause of the latter from his perspective.

Beau is not even allowed the chance to plead his case, only provided a lawyer whose deliberate lack of a microphone makes him nearly impossible to hear (symbolizing the frustrations of being silenced) and who is publicly killed before he can finish the defense. Furthermore, as Aster reveals in an interview with IndieWire, Beau’s pitiless trial has a certain loosely personal meaning to him. He says his intention with the final sequence is, as we watch Mona clearly derive pleasure from her son’s suffering, to put the audience in her shoes, with Beau serving as Aster's surrogate, as Mona is a metaphorical reflection of the audience judging the filmmaker, or at least the art he has created. That appears to explain why the setting of the final act almost resembles a movie theater.

What Is Real And What Is Fantasy In Beau Is Afraid?

Similar to another recent, experimental thriller, Skinamarink, Beau Is Afraid often feels like a nightmare transferred directly to celluloid for its unsettling atmosphere and bizarre imagery. At times, it begs the question of whether or not what takes place is actually happening or if it is all in Beau’s head. 

Honestly, I think you could make the argument the entire movie is just a really, really bad dream because it is highly unlikely that anything we see could happen in reality (Beau’s monstrous, phallic father being the most obvious example). However, I do believe that the film is meant to take place in a reality different from our own and one that allows such otherworldly phenomena to exist.

Yet, if there is one moment that is, undeniably, a product of Beau’s imagination, it is when the play he stumbles onto in the middle of the film curdles into a, mostly, favorable foretelling of his future. If not for its brightly colored landscape, brought to life with wondrously crude animation and theatrical artificial sets, what automatically clues the viewer in to the fact that this is a fantasy is the sight of Beau with a wife, children, and any semblance of hope.

Hopefully, this is breakdown has quenched any curiosity or confusion you have felt over the Beau Is Afraid ending. However, if you are still in the dark about the penis monster, I am afraid we are in the same boat there.

Over the course of his career, Joaquin Phoenix has established a reputation as a performer, and it’s not for taking on chill characters and projects. He has a serious dedication to his work, and that has regularly lured him to play serious and/or complicated characters in complex and/or intense films. Writer/director Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid is the latest example of this, with Phoenix playing the anxiety and fear plagued titular antagonist, and while you’d think that he’d might want a break from that kind of exhausting material, you definitely shouldn’t expect to see him in a light romantic comedy any time soon.

Joaquin Phoenix and Ari Aster took part in a virtual roundtable earlier today in advance of Beau Is Afraid hitting theaters last week, and the actor was asked during the conversation if the kind of work he’s been doing takes a toll and if he’d be interested in doing a bit of a career pivot and signing on to make a rom-com. It was an idea that Phoenix didn’t exactly embrace, saying,

I would actually make the argument that Joaquin Phoenix stars in what is one of the best romantic comedies of the 21st century – writer/director Spike Jonze’s Her – but with that film’s heady themes about technology and loneliness, that’s obviously not the kind of rom-com to which he is referring in this conversation.

Eliciting laughs from the room, Phoenix continued,

There is certainly nothing boring about Beau Is Afraid. The film is Ari Aster’s follow-up to Hereditary and Midsommar, and it stars Phoenix as Beau, a permanently anxious man who lives in a world of worst case scenarios and finds himself confronting a seemingly never ending series of challenges and horrifically bizarre circumstances as he tries to take a guilt-ridden trip home to see his mother. You can watch the wild trailer below:

Watching the movie, you can’t help but feel like Joaquin Phoenix must have been completely wiped at the end of the day on set, having spent hours in a near-constant state of high tension – and he hypothesized that his body can’t differentiate between fiction and reality. He says that it does have an impact on him beyond his work, but he has no interest in stopping because he enjoys it:

Co-starring Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Richard Kind, Patti LuPone, Armen Nahapetian, and Zoe Lister-Jones, Beau Is Afraid arrives in theaters on April 21, and as I wrote in my CinemaBlend review, it’s an experience akin to a three-hour panic attack. As early reactions demonstrate, it’s going to be one of the most divisive movies of the year, so give it a watch and judge it for yourself.

For a further look ahead at what’s coming out in coming weeks and months, check out our 2023 Movie Release Calendar.

Ari Aster made an impact with his first two directorial projects — Hereditary and Midsommar — which are considered some of the best horror films of the modern era. And audiences couldn’t wait to see what he did next. Four years later, he is back with Beau Is Afraid starring Joaquin Phoenix, whose title character embarks on an epic journey home following his mother’s sudden death. While Aster had expressed interest in venturing outside of the horror genre, viewers who saw early screenings were left “haunted” by the “nightmare fuel.” The reviews are here, ahead of the movie’s April 21 release, so let’s find out more about Beau Is Afraid.

Alongside Joaquin Phoenix in this surreal dark comedy (Ari Aster’s third movie with A24) is an impressive supporting cast that includes Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan and Richard Kind. The critics have lots of thoughts about this three-hour flick, so we’re jumping right in with CinemaBlend’s review of Beau Is Afraid. Eric Eisenberg rates the movie 4.5 stars out of 5, warning that this is a wholly different experience than Aster’s first two films and saying it will likely go down as the most extravagantly weird film of the year. He continues: 

Kristy Puchko of Mashable describes the film as a 3-hour-long panic attack, peppered with jokes so dark you might laugh or scream. The critic praises Joaquin Phoenix’s “intensely demanding performance,” and while she can’t promise audiences will enjoy Beau Is Afraid, she promises it will fuck you up. The review continues: 

Siddhant Adlakha of IGN also gives the film high marks, rating it an “Amazing” 9 out of 10. The critic says Ari Aster’s latest offering is a surreal three-hour dive into his anxieties, a deeply personal horror-comedy at a wildly ambitious scale. More from the review: 

John Nugent of Empire gives the movie 4 out of 5 stars, wondering where Ari Aster could go next? Beau Is Afraid evokes a visceral anxiety but is still a jaw-dropping joyride, the critic says, where Beau’s irrational fears are real, and his darkest fears are all realized simultaneously. The review continues: 

Charles Pulliam-Moore of The Verge, like many other critics, notes that Beau Is Afraid will be polarizing to audiences, as discomfort seems very much part of the point. However, as dark and grotesque as the movie can get, this review calls it Ari Aster’s most comedic project to date. He continues: 

Moviegoers sure sound like they’re in for a strange and emotionally affecting outing. Will Beau Is Afraid join the ranks as one of A24’s best horror movies? You’ll be able to make your own assessments when Joaquin Phoenix’s movie hits the big screen on Friday, April 21. In the meantime, check out our 2023 Movie Release Schedule to see what other films are headed to theaters soon. 

Ari Aster’s Midsommar is shocking, horrific and mesmerizing, but one underrated aspect of the fantastic 2019 film is its sense of humor. Amidst the escalating terror and nightmare imagery is a sly winking – a sense that Aster is grinning as his characters trip on shrooms under a midnight sun and is cackling as the protagonist’s terrible boyfriend is sewn into a bear corpse before being set on fire. Hereditary, the writer/director’s feature debut, doesn’t operate the same way, but Midsommar suggests a lurking twisted and wild comedic sensibility.

Beau Is Afraid, Aster’s third and latest film, confirms it.

A wholly different cinematic experience than its predecessors, Beau Is Afraid is essentially an exercise in organized chaos. The story unfolds across three distinctly structured acts as the titular character (Joaquin Phoenix) endures a trouble-filled trip to see his mother (Patty LuPone) – a high concept plot… but it’s set in a world of unfettered madness and unyielding stress. Practically every moment can be described as a worst case scenario, and Beau, raised in a state of fear, is forced to do a headfirst dive into all of his anxieties in hopes of pleasing his overbearing mom.

It’s Beau’s intention to go home to be with his mother on the anniversary of his father’s death, but it’s a task he struggles with almost immediately due to the horrors of his living conditions: a decrepit inner-city apartment above a sex shop that has a constant flow of lunatics roaming out front, a deadly brown recluse spider on the loose and psychotic neighbors who hallucinate that he’s blasting music at all hours (and retaliate by blasting music of their own). Life is constant alarm, and he reasonably dreads the outside world, but his journey is able to eventually begin in earnest after he is attacked in his bathtub, goes running out into the street, is held at gunpoint by a cop, gets hit by a car and is stabbed by a homeless man several times.

Beau Is Afraid is destined to inspire extreme reactions – but keep an open mind.

In case I haven’t made it abundantly clear, Beau Is Afraid will probably go down as the most extravagantly weird film of the year – and as such, it’s also going to be regarded as one of the most polarizing. It’s a major auteur flex from Ari Aster, who surely cashed in every drop of studio good will from Hereditary and Midsommar to make it, and movie-goers who see what he’s doing and get on his wavelength are going to have a ball (and be able to weather the energy drop in the second act). On the other hand, those who don’t keep an open mind and are exclusively expecting something more akin to Aster’s first two features may be inspired to get all rage-y about it on Twitter and react with exaggerations like “WTF worst movie ever” – but this is me strongly recommending that you to not be that person.

Beau Is Afraid is quick to tell you exactly what kind of film it is. When you register its phenomenally odd flavor, it’s really best to just lean back in your theater chair and await the next dose of radical weirdness that is constantly waiting around the corner to abuse the eponymous protagonist and both shock and inspire hysterics in the audience. You won’t always be able to fully understand the reason why something is happening, either in the moment or looking back on the work in its totality, as the movie functions with its own crazy logic – but if you embrace it, you’ll find yourself marveling at it.

Joaquin Phoenix delivers another outstanding lead performance in Beau Is Afraid, and he is surrounded by excellence.

It’s certainly far from surprising that Joaquin Phoenix would excel playing an off-kilter character, but what makes his work in Beau Is Afraid particularly noteworthy are his subtle choices for a protagonist living in an extreme world. He certainly has his moments of panic where he screams, runs and charges through glass doors, but mostly Phoenix keeps Beau’s feelings of fear, guilt, and anxiety behind his eyes, and it has a brilliant grounding effect that only enhances all of the insanity that is going on around him.

Having the opposite effect is the tremendous supporting cast who each have their own way of feeding the film’s wild tone and plotting and all look like they are having a blast doing so. Playing the couple that strikes Beau with their car, Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan are spectacularly demented as Roger and Grace (a pair of mourning parents who seemingly aim to keep Beau at their home as a surrogate for their dead son) – and special mention goes to Kylie Rogers, who plays their daughter and behaves in quite interesting ways to express her dislike of Beau potentially being her new brother. Patti LuPone, Parker Posey and Richard Kind additionally deliver terrific performances… but it would be saying too much to describe specifics of their roles.

From vicious lunacy, to striking animation in the second act, to endgame revelations that make you rethink everything, Beau Is Afraid is madness that has to be witnessed to be fully grasped, and even after that you’re still going to need a lot of time to get your mind around all of it. It’s a remarkable work of tone and character that goes to some bewildering and mind-boggling places (let it be known that I’ve held back writing about a lot of ridiculous surprises in this review), and it not only demonstrates Ari Aster’s tremendous range, but cements him as one of the most fascinating big screen storytellers working today.

Ari Aster has certainly made a name for himself in the modern era of horror, with his first two films, Hereditary and Midsommar, considered by some to be among the best horror movies of all time. For his third project, Aster re-teamed with A24 — which has compiled its own impressively scary collection in the genre — for the “nightmare comedy” Beau Is Afraid. The movie premiered on April 1 to an audience that thought they were seeing a director’s cut of Midsommar, before the joke was revealed and, now, those moviegoers are sharing their first impressions of Aster’s newest film following the surprise screening. 

Beau Is Afraid, which was originally titled Disappointment Blvd., stars Joaquin Phoenix as Beau, who embarks on an epic and surreal odyssey home following the sudden death of his mother. The trailer teases a whole new brand of WTF, seemingly opening a violent cartoon multiverse. Let’s see what people are saying after their surprise screening.

Shahbaz of The Movie Podcast says Ari Aster has done it again, with a haunting film that will stick in your brain long after you’ve left the theater. He tweets: 

Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting revealed A24’s April Fool’s Day prank, calling Beau Is Afraid “demented” and “imaginative”: 

Clocking in at 2 hours and 59 minutes, audiences seem guaranteed to experience every minute of Beau’s emotional journey, and Alison Foreman of IndieWire says she couldn’t hold back her tears after the impossible-to-unpack final act. She tweets: 

Lex Briscuso of SlashFilm similarly requests “5-7 business years” to process the experience. Briscuso says this movie and the director's films in general are proof that filmmakers should make what sings to them, regardless of how weird or niche an idea may seem. The writer continues: 

Film critic Courtney Howard says the director successfully combines horror and humor, and on top of a career-high performance from Joaquin Phoenix, the supporting cast of Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Parker Posey, Zoe Lister-Jones, Patti LuPone and more all give terrific performances: 

A number of those who have seen the movie are commenting on Beau Is Afraid’s rewatchability — which is a big ask for a movie with a 3-hour runtime. Daniel Baptista of The Movie Podcast seems to be one who may take in a repeat showing, as he says the movie leaves you second-guessing every frame: 

Beau Is Afraid viewers will have the option to see the movie in IMAX, and Anthony of The Movie Podcast recommends upgrading your ticket for this experience. The podcaster was one of numerous audience members to note that the film evoked feelings of guilt and sorrow:

Ari Aster’s third directorial project sure sounds like an intense experience, but we’ve come to expect nothing less from the filmmaker. The movie is set for a limited IMAX release on April 14 in Los Angeles and New York before its wide release to theaters on Friday, April 21. In the meantime, take a peek at our schedule of 2023 new movie releases to see what other films are headed to the big screen soon and if it's scary you're after, check out these upcoming horror movies.

He’s back – or, rather, he will be next year. 

That’s right, you read that correctly – Ari Aster is finally coming back with a new movie soon and we are all counting down the days until it comes out. The mind behind two of the most iconic horror movies of the last few years – Hereditary and Midsommar, is going to be releasing his third film soon enough, simply titled Beau is Afraid, released by A24, the same studio that made his previous films.

But, what is this film going to be about? And when is it going to release? If you’re just as curious as we are, here are six quick things we know about Beau is Afraid, and what you can expect soon.

Beau Is Afraid Is Set To Release At Some Point In 2023

Mark your 2023 movie schedules, viewers, because Beau is Afraid is coming out in theaters next year, in 2023. According to A24’s Twitter page, they announced that the film would be released at some point then. An exact release date is still unknown. 

His first two films, Hereditary and Midsommar, released in June 2018 and February 2019, respectively, so maybe sometime early next year we could end up getting his latest movie. However, since we don’t know, all we can hope is that they stick to the 2023 release schedule. 

Joaquin Phoenix Will Star

Some other big news that was confirmed not that long ago, but further confirmed in that Twitter post, was that Joaquin Phoenix is going to star in Beau is Afraid. 

These two apparently worked very well behind the scenes, with the atmosphere being that of “old friends,” according to fellow co-star, Stephen McKinley Henderson, who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the upcoming movie, back when it was still called Disappointment Blvd.

Joaquin Phoenix has been having himself a great few years, where he starred in the film, Joker, which won him an Academy Award for Best Actor, and was also in C’mon C’mon, so it’ll be exciting to see him come back to another big role. 

Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson, And More Will Also Star

Obviously, we can’t just have one person be the star of Beau is Afraid, and the cast for the film has already been set with plenty of great stars. According to IndieWire, Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson (who was mentioned before), Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, and Parker Posey are all set to have major roles in the movie. 

What a cast list. I mean, Lane has been increased attention lately for the Hulu original series, Only Murders in The Building, along with so many other great projects. LuPone is an acting legend. Ryan has also been in Only Murders in the Building and was a star of Lost Girls, and Parker Posey has most recently been in the Netflix original show, Lost in Space. 

They’ve really just been all over the place, and I can’t wait to see them in this movie to see their acting skills. Even Henderson talked about how excited he was to be acting alongside everyone in that interview he did with The Hollywood Reporter:

The Movie Will Follow One Of The Most Successful Entrepreneurs Of All Time

As with any Ari Aster movie, the details that are out about this film are very limited. However, the bare minimum premise was released for fans to theorize about. According to the same IndieWire piece from before, Beau is Afraid is going to follow the story of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time in a “decades-spanning” portrait of their life. 

Who this person is going to be, we have no idea. We don’t even know if it’s based on a real person or not. But, this is Ari Aster, so we’ll be paying attention to it no matter what. 

But Beau Is Afraid Will Not Be A Horror Movie

This isn’t that surprising, because Ari Aster probably needed some time off from horror movies after the two intense ones he just released, but Beau is Afraid is not going to be a horror movie, according to a Reddit AMA (via IndieWire). 

Back when he was still in the writing stages of Beau is Afraid, Aster was quick to say that he doesn’t want his next movie to be horror, and instead wanted it to be something completely different: 

As someone who does love his horror movies, I have to say that I am a little sad we won’t get to see another one for some time. They are some of the best A24 horror movies and people often debate which one is better. But, I’m here for an Aster comedy too, so bring it on. 

Beau Is Afraid Could Be A “Four-Hour Long Nightmare Comedy”

While the film itself was once called Disappointment Blvd. (as mentioned above),  Aster was still talking about it even then – and it looks like his wishes of making a comedy worked out in a strange way, as Beau is Afraid is going to be a nightmare comedy – and long. 

In an interview that he did with the Associate Students Program Board at UC Santa Barbara, Aster confirmed that he had finished another draft and that it was very long - four hours long, and that it was a “nightmare comedy.” 

What exactly this means, I’m not sure. I always think of the best horror comedies first before anything else because those are pretty crazy, but since this isn’t a horror movie, I’m not entirely aware of what a “nightmare comedy” entails. I’m sure I’ll still be blown away regardless. 

What are you looking forward to the most with Ari Aster’s next film? I’m just counting down the days until it comes out. Now all I need is a premiere date. 

Between Hereditary and Midsommar, writer/director Ari Aster has quickly proven to be a masterful filmmaker with some seriously messed-up stories to tell. So whatever he’s got next, we’ve been on high alert. His mysterious movie with Joaquin Phoenix was announced last year, and it looks like the name has changed from Disappointment Blvd. to Beau Is Afraid – but more interesting than the title switch is  what’s up with this debut poster. 

The official new title for the film was unveiled by A24 (the production company behind enough favorites for a thought-provoking horror movie marathon) alongside a very random and frankly, weirdly composed poster on Instagram. Check it out: 

This looks like a movie called Joaquin Phoenix rather than Beau Is Afraid, which is featured as a hashtag on the bottom left. Plus, what’s with this artwork of the actor as a child in silk pajamas? I’m so confused!

A24 simply captioned the poster “Ari Aster. Joaquin Phoenix. Next year, BEAU IS AFRAID.” And, that’s it. Disappointment Blvd is a much better title in my opinion, but hey, those two names are very much enough to get me excited for Beau Is Afraid regardless. 

Joaquin Phoenix is coming off his 2020 Oscar win for Joker as well as his critically acclaimed 2021 film C’mon C’mon and he has the second Joker movie on the way. Joker: Folie à Deux, which will also star Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, recently started filming ahead of its October 2024 release date. 

Beau Is Afraid is being described as a decades-spanning portrait of “one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.” That description definitely makes this literal portrait of a young Phoenix make sense. Perhaps, there will be more that will show the character getting progressively older? In set photos of the project, Joaquin Phoenix has been pictured looking much older, with gray hair and wearing the same gray PJ set as in the poster. 

Given Ari Aster was behind one of the best horror movies of all time, I trust him. There’s some reason why this poster in particular is the first image for Beau Is Afraid. I do wonder if somehow a young Joaquin Phoenix is going to be in this movie, or if this is some sort of metaphor for how childish this “entrepreneur” is. 

My mind is also going to run wild about if this poster is disappointing on purpose because of the original name, or if A24 just put out an odd piece of marketing. I’d imagine this poster is a signal that a trailer could be on the way along with a release date. Currently we know it will be among 2023 movie release dates, but there’s so many more questions than answers right now.