Ari Aster’s 2023 horror movie Beau Is Afraid was one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year, and it has an ending that needs a lot of unpacking. Before the movie’s release, horror fans knew that Joaquin Phoenix was starring in an Ari Aster project with a creative and sometimes confusing plot. From playing himself in the mockumentary I’m Still Here to taking on Johnny Cash in Walk The Line, Phoenix doesn’t seek out boring characters who fade into the background.

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Beau Is Afraid is Ari Aster’s third feature-length movie and just as captivating as his other two. What happens in Beau Is Afraid and how does the ending play into the film’s important and meaningful themes?

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What Happens In Beau Is Afraid?

Beau Is Afraid follows Beau Wassermann, a man who still remembers falling for Elaine Bray (Parker Posey) when they met during a cruise when they were in high school. Beau has always had a tough relationship with his mother Mona (Patti LuPone) and he was told that his father died when he was conceived because he had a heart attack. The movie centers around Beau going to see his mother because he always visits her on the date that his father passed away. This set-up is crucial to the rest of the movie, which does have horrifying scenes typical of Ari Aster movies.

After Beau learns that his mother died, he is hit by a truck. From this point on, Beau Is Afraid becomes less straightforward than Ari Aster’s other horror movies. The main theme remains the same: sometimes a parent and child have a horrible relationship and the parent doesn’t want their child to truly grow up, move away from them, and have their own life. Mona and Beau are co-dependent, and while they are uncomfortable characters to watch, that dynamic does unfortunately play out in real life.

What Are Ari Aster’s Other Horror Movies?

Before releasing Beau Is Afraid, Ari Aster wrote and directed Hereditary, which was released in 2018, and Midsommar, which was released in 2019. In Hereditary, the Graham family has evil roots. Annie (Toni Collette) learns that her mother Ellen (Kathleen Chalfant) was the leader of a dangerous cult that worshiped a demon called Paimon. The movie sees the Graham family completely falling apart, with Annie losing her grip on reality and her husband and children suffering terribly.

The 2010s had great horror movies and that includes Midsommar. Both Hereditary and Midsommar tell extremely dark stories about families who have a lot of pain. In Midsommar, Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh) is grieving when she follows her boyfriend Christian Hughes (Jack Reynor) to a festival in Sweden. The ending is just as thought-provoking as the last scene of Beau Is Afraid.

What Happens At The End Of Beau Is Afraid?

If the entire plot of Beau Is Afraid is a little confusing, the ending does fit the tone of the movie. Beau and Elaine sleep together and while Beau thinks that he will die, he survives the experience. Elaine, however, passes away. Ari Aster’s horror movie endings are never straightforward or simple, and the same thing is true of Beau Is Afraid. It could be argued that the dark, shocking ending of Hereditary and the unsettling ending of Midsommar are no match for the truly disturbing nature of Beau Is Afraid’s conclusion.

Beau finds out that his mother Mona never died after all and she has been spying on him. When Beau goes to the attic of his mother’s house, he sees his father who is a phallic-shaped monster. The monster murders Jeeves (Denis Ménochet) and Beau attacks Mona.

From the trailer of Beau Is Afraid, it’s clear that Beau isn’t the most reliable and trustworthy narrator. That almost doesn’t matter, though, since the movie is making a statement about difficult and dysfunctional families. Joaquin Phoenix delivers an excellent performance and makes sure that Beau looks scared and vulnerable at every turn. Phoenix has starred in many underrated movies and Beau Is Afraid is the perfect match for his talent. Like Ari Aster’s other movies, Beau Is Afraid has a complex and layered main character who needs a certain actor to pull it off.

The final scene of Beau Is Afraid sums up the theme of this Ari Aster horror movie: that the mother/son relationship between Mona and Beau has always been toxic, upsetting, and terrible. Beau gets into a boat and sees Mona and Dr. Cohen (Richard Kind) prosecuting him. He has been put on trial because Mona doesn’t believe that he is the child that she has wanted. The engine of the boat explodes and Beau dies. This feels like the only end to this character’s story since his mother never gave him the chance to live a real life and be happy.

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