About halfway through Beau Is Afraid and I had to pause it because it's so much.
I've been fascinated by it ever since I saw the trailer and the short film. I loved Hereditary but honestly found Midsommar irritating (maybe I missed the point, but it felt very victim blamey? that boyfriend didn't deserve any of that), but Ari Aster is still one of those filmmakers I Keep An Eye On, and this does not disappoint so far!
I've read a lot of divisive reviews being like "oh this movie is overdoing it" or "this is the greatest piece of cinema ever created" and I don't necessarily think either is true, but does it have to be one or the other? Can we not just appreciate a movie that goes 100% in its own direction, does its own thing, commits to its own creative vision, and is radically different from anything else coming out right now? It's just cool as hell, does it need to be anything more than that?
Anyways I am genuinely curious to know about what people who legitimately deal with paranoid schizophrenia, or mental health professionals who focus on that, think about a movie like this and how it portrays how the world is perceived by those suffering from it. It's fascinating how you're never quite certain where reality ends and delusion begins. A neighbor slides a note under his door asking him to turn down the music, which he reads in his completely silent apartment as he's trying to go to sleep. Is there actually something playing loudly that he doesn't notice? Is the note even real? If it is, is that what it actually said? There's no solid ground to find a comfortable footing, and that's what his whole life is like. It's wild.