I think the best way to approach Beau Is Afraid is to consider it as a series of Inception-styled existentialist nightmares that the real-life Beau is experiencing as he is safely ensconced in his comfy apartment in an upscale part of town. Everything that happens in the movie is then figurative, merely how Beau's mind is trying to process and resolve the difficult aspects of his life that may be hidden from his consciousness. The story consists of three nightmares or acts, each with its distinctive theme.
In Act 1, Beau lives in his dull but orderly apartment, surrounded by the chaos that happens in his building and the lawlessness in the streets. The theme here is that the world is a dangerous place; Beau feels vulnerable, believes that bad things will happen to him, and his apartment represents his safe inner space, which is fragile as danger is always lurking beyond its four walls.
In Act 2, Beau finds himself convalescing in the home of Roger, Grace and their volatile teenage daughter, after an accident. The couple seem inordinately concerned with the welfare of a stranger, yet has placed an ankle bracelet on him. Later, they set their other deranged ward, a combat veteran with PTSD named Jeeves, after him following an incident with their daughter. The theme here is that no one can be trusted. Fleeing from Jeeves, Beau runs into a theatre troupe. During their performance, like a nightmare within a nightmare, we see a story of Beau having a family and subsequently losing them in a natural disaster, only to reunite years later and discover they were never real to begin with. This family represents the life Beau could have had if it were not for his mother's influence on him.
In Act 3, Beau finally arrives at his mother's lavish residence but is too late to the funeral. Mona reveals that she is not actually dead and the body in the coffin is that of the housekeeper, whose death she had bought. When Beau tries to stand up to Mona after years of her tyranny, he is banished to the attic where he finds his emaciated opinionated twin and a representation of his late father's genitals. Jeeves bursts in and starts attacking the father, because if the father is rendered impotent, Beau would not have been born. Jeeves is probably a manifestation of Beau's self-destructive tendencies. In the final scene, Beau stands trial accused of being ungrateful to his mother and is executed as she watches. We see him accept his fate and her shedding tears of self-pity when he disappears into the water. The theme here is subjugation; Mona had always put her needs before her son's, and made him neurotic and dependent so that she had control over him. She did not want her child to differentiate from her and become his own person. Beau Is Afraid is the tale of a narcissistic mother who enmeshed her son, hence Beau's demeanour throughout the movie is that of his young and terrified self.
It is a big ask for people to sit through three hours of this. I watched it in two halves; I was thoroughly derisive in the first half but I appreciated the overall experience and meaning of the story as the second half progressed. Hence I empathise with the detractors and those who applauded this movie alike. As much as Aster might have been self-indulgent in creating this bloated excursion possibly based on a personal experience, I hope that he found catharsis in doing so. Still, I wouldn't recommend the movie without some forewarning and clues.
