Joaquin Phoenix in talks for ‘nightmare comedy’ Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Earlier this year, HEREDITARY (watch it HERE) and MIDSOMMAR (watch that HERE) writer/director Ari Aster said his next film is going to be a "nightmare comedy" that's "four hours long". Now the folks over at Discussing Film have caught word that the project is titled BEAU IS AFRAID, and JOKER Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix is in talks to star in the film.

Aster and his fellow producers have not yet put together a production schedule for the film; it sounds like they'll build their schedule around Phoenix if he does sign on.

A feature extension of Aster's 2011 short film BEAU, BEAU IS AFRAID is described as "a surrealist horror film set in an alternate present". The story: 

An anxious man learns of the death of his mother under mysterious circumstances and upon traveling home makes an alarming discovery about his past. During his journey, he runs into various crazy supernatural threats.

According to Discussing Film, those threats could be "some of the craziest ideas that Ari Aster has ever came up with".

If Phoenix does star in the film, he would be playing the titular Beau, "an extremely anxious but pleasant-looking man who has a fraught relationship with his overbearing mother. Their relationship is affected by the fact that he never knew his father."

It would be cool if Phoenix does end up starring in BEAU IS AFRAID, because he and Ari Aster seem like a perfect match.