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Joaquin Phoenix as you’ve never seen him before

Joaquin Phoenix as you’ve never seen him before

Just in time for Mothers’ Day – a film about a matriarch who is a kind of evil mutant, descended from Medea via Mommy Dearest.

John McDonald

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Ari Aster is a director who suffers from a bad case of David Lynch envy. His previous two features, Hereditary and Midsommar, were unusual enough to appeal to those with cultish tastes, but Beau is Afraid is more Twin Peaks than Twin Peaks. Alas, multiple peaks also entail multiple troughs, and this film lingers most of the time at the bottom of the scale.

Joaquin Phoenix’s Beau is 48 years old (Phoenix’s real age) but he appears a good 20 years older. Takashi Seida/A24 via AP

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/joaquin-phoenix-as-you-ve-never-seen-him-before-20230413-p5d09z