Aster and the bewildered magic Once upon a time in the magical land of Mystica, there lived a young witch named Aster. She was known to be the most gifted magic-wielder in the entire kingdom. Aster had a kind heart and used her powers to help those in need. Mystica was a peaceful kingdom, but it had been recently facing a series of strange events. No one could understand what was happening, and everyone was growing more bewildered by the day. One day, Aster received a message from the council of witches in Mystica.
Oh no; things get even more interesting.
And she s gotten to save the day and her family and the whole valley she lives in from various magical calamities in what even she has to admit were extremely fun adventures. Beau essentially lives in a heightened version of conservative America s worst nightmare of New York City, which the film treats with cool impartiality and a dash of magical realism.
One day, Aster received a message from the council of witches in Mystica. They were concerned about the mysterious occurrences and requested Aster's assistance in solving the magical puzzle. Eager to help her kingdom, Aster set off on an adventure to uncover the secrets behind the bewildered magic.
Beau is Afraid is Ari Aster’s Anxious Odyssey — And His Most Audacious Movie Yet
The horror director has officially entered his Charlie Kaufman era.
April 11, 2023Beau is Afraid starts at the literal beginning. Our title character emerges from the womb, but just like the rest of Ari Aster’s new disorienting and upsetting film, this is no conventional birthing scene. The film’s first black frame fades into a translucent pinkish-red before suddenly emerging into a sterile-white room full of giant masked men and women rushing to resuscitate the oddly quiet baby whose POV we’ve shockingly become privy to. This is how deeply we’re embedded in the mindset of Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix), a perpetually anxious doormat of a man who embarks on a strange epic journey.
Nothing is certain in Beau is Afraid. Reality might be a dream, your most cherished moments may be a delusion, and one’s deepest, darkest insecurities might actually be a projection of an overbearing mother. The only true certainty in Aster’s freaky, perverse odyssey is that the world is a terrifying place.
When we pick up with Beau as an adult, he’s become a tightly-wound bundle of complexes who can barely step foot outside his apartment. But as Aster’s camera studiously follows Beau from his unhelpful session with an overly placid therapist through the dangerous streets and into his derelict apartment building, it’s clear that Beau’s whole world is a little off.
The streets are littered with trash and dead bodies. Storefront signs advertise boobs, drugs, and death with equal amounts of glee. TV news anchors drolly report the latest casualties of a nude serial killer who terrorizes the town with impunity. And armies of homeless drug addicts casually murder each other in broad daylight. Beau essentially lives in a heightened version of conservative America’s worst nightmare of New York City, which the film treats with cool impartiality and a dash of magical realism.
It’s enough to make the already meek Beau feel especially helpless as he shuffles through his life and attempts to ready himself for his biggest challenge: getting on a plane to visit his mother. But one unfortunate event follows after the other. Beau’s keys are stolen, he misses his plane, and his apartment is invaded and trashed. When he receives a phone call with the worst news of his life, Beau must race back to his mother’s house or face the consequences.
Joaquin Phoenix lends sympathy to a pitiful hero in Beau is Afraid.
Beau is Afraid feels like a warped product of the world’s most anxious mind, in the best way possible. This is Aster’s most audacious and deranged movie yet — a movie so weird it makes Midsommar and Hereditary seem like conventional horror flicks. Deeply disturbed and deeply funny, Beau is Afraid is a three-hour anxiety attack that doubles as a modern retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, except its hero is just trying to get back to his mother’s house.
While his previous two films are more focused, there’s a gumption to Aster’s “everything but the kitchen sink” approach. The viewer has no choice but to accept every wild tonal shift and surreal twist, or risk feeling perpetually bewildered. That Beau is Afraid was Aster’s first script (written before he made Hereditary) makes total sense. It feels like a germ of an idea dreamed up by a young man and executed by a less-young man, now with a subconscious littered with ennui, like sticky fly paper that caught onto every stray regret in life. It lends to the scattered odyssey of Beau’s journey, which flickers back and forth between his youth and his adulthood, and between his worst dreams and worser memories. It’s a thoroughly unpleasant experience, and yet… Beau is Afraid is a revelation.
Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan give unsettling supporting turns as a surgeon and his wife with ulterior motives.
Aster lays bare his weirdest insecurities with striking beauty and confident vision. The nightmare of Beau’s crime-ridden urban life gives way to even more uncanny locations: a Pepto Bismol-pink suburban house where an overly hospitable surgeon and his wife (Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan, both perfectly unsettling) take him in, the eerie woods where he meets a group of fae-like traveling performers, and his mother’s museum-like house full of testaments to her greatness and evidence of his suffocating childhood.
But the most incredible section of the film is a picturebook-like sequence animated by Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña (Wolf House) in which Beau imagines another, equally tragic direction his life might have taken. It’s a breathtaking stop-motion scene that turns a pit stop into the cathartic climax of the movie — before Aster rips the rug from right underneath it. Because for Beau and his codependent relationship with his overbearing mother (the younger version given a snappy impatience by Zoe Lister-Jones, the older version played as a tyrannical terror by Patti LuPone), emotional release is the enemy. Eternal shame is the only solution.
A standout sequence takes the audience on an animated adventure.
Joaquin Phoenix is terrific as Beau, making his dazed, spineless Odysseus into a sympathetic, if pitiful, hero — if only in his desperation to reach the end of his journey. Phoenix is one of the great actors of our time, and he’s never felt more relatable than as this terrified ball of anxiety. His younger self is almost too well-cast as Armen Nahapetian (who is not, in fact, a de-aged Phoenix), in a flashback sequence that threatens to tip the film over into surreal nonsense.
And while I can’t say that Aster manages to thread the needle between surreal nonsense and surreal inspiration without a hitch, I can say that there’s no film like Beau is Afraid — at least on this side of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York. It’s a gonzo odyssey for our times, a rejection of mediocre cinema, and a paean for all the perverted weirdos out there. This one’s for you, sickos.
Beau Is Afraid arrives in theaters on April 21.
- Movies
- Science Fiction
- Horror
Magic turned Aster’s life upside-down — and it’s not over! Get ready for more family, more fun, and even more magic in this graphic novel adventure.
She began her quest by visiting the ancient library of Mystica. It was rumored to hold vast knowledge about the history of magic in the kingdom. Aster spent days and nights researching, trying to find any clues that could explain the strange events. But the more she read, the more confused she became. The answers seemed to be hidden within the pages of the ancient texts, waiting to be deciphered. Determined not to give up, Aster sought the guidance of the wise elder witches who lived in a hidden forest. They had been practicing magic for centuries and held the wisdom of generations before them. Aster hoped that their insights would bring clarity to the bewildering magic. The elder witches welcomed Aster into their sacred grove and listened attentively as she shared her dilemma. After much deliberation and consultation with the spirits, they revealed a startling revelation to Aster. The bewildered magic was not a result of external forces but a manifestation of the collective emotions and desires of the people in Mystica. It turned out that the kingdom had been plagued by fear and uncertainty, which had inadvertently caused the magical disturbances. The elder witches explained that magic was deeply connected to human emotions, and when people's emotions became overwhelming, it reflected in the magic around them. Armed with this newfound knowledge, Aster realized that to restore harmony in Mystica, she needed to help the people understand and control their emotions. She organized workshops and gatherings, where she taught the inhabitants of the kingdom about the power of their emotions and how it affected their magical environment. With time and guidance from Aster, the people of Mystica began to practice emotional awareness and control. They learned to channel their emotions positively, which in turn, affected the magical energies in the kingdom. Slowly but surely, the bewildered magic subsided, and peace was restored in Mystica. Aster's journey had not only solved the mystery of the bewildered magic but also taught her and the people of Mystica an important lesson. Magic was not an external force that they had no control over; it was an intrinsic part of their being, and they held the key to shaping their magical world. And so, Aster became known as not just a gifted witch but also a wise guide who had helped her kingdom rediscover the true nature of magic. Together, they thrived in a magical land where emotions and magic danced harmoniously, proving that understanding oneself was the most powerful magic of all..
Reviews for "Unraveling the intricate magic system of Aster and the bewildered magic"
1. Sarah - 2 stars - I was really disappointed with "Aster and the Bewildered Magic". The plot was confusing and seemed to jump all over the place, making it difficult to follow. The characters were also hard to connect with as they lacked depth and development. Furthermore, the writing style felt forced and inauthentic, which made it hard to engage with the story. Overall, I found this book to be a disappointment and wouldn't recommend it.
2. John - 1 star - I found "Aster and the Bewildered Magic" to be extremely boring. The pacing was incredibly slow, and it felt like nothing significant happened for the majority of the book. The main character, Aster, was uninteresting and lacked any compelling qualities. The magical elements of the story were underdeveloped, and I never felt fully immersed in the world that was being presented. I struggled to finish this book and was left feeling unsatisfied and unimpressed.
3. Emily - 2 stars - I had high hopes for "Aster and the Bewildered Magic", but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The writing style was overly simplistic and lacked the depth and complexity I usually enjoy in fantasy novels. The dialogue felt forced and did not flow naturally. The overall plotline felt predictable and unoriginal, and I found myself losing interest quickly. While I appreciate the effort put into creating a magical world, it failed to captivate me and I ultimately did not enjoy this book.