Is ‘Beau is Afraid’ a horror movie?

Beau is Afraid has finally started to roll out in theaters around the world, and Ari Aster’s third feature film is truly a puzzling work of cinema. From the trailers, to posters, and any other promotional material, it can be quite difficult to pinpoint what Beau is Afraid is about, never mind the genre of the film. 

Folks who are familiar with Aster’s previous works in Hereditary and Midsommar know that he more or less operates within the bounds of the horror genre, with jumpscared and frights aplenty. However, the film we see pitched in promotional materials doesn’t seem to quite add up to what we expect a traditional horror film to look like. 

This is despite initial Google search results mining metadata which calls the film, for all intents and purposes, a horror film. This begs a question for the horror-averse Joaquin Phoenix fan who wants to see one of their favorite actors in a three-hour epic – just how scary is the film? Let’s discuss.

How scary is Beau is Afraid? 

Without a doubt, there are absolutely horror elements present in Beau is Afraid. While the definition of ‘horror’ is subjective, depending on the experiences, perspective and worldview of the viewer, we found that Beau is Afraid steers a fair bit further into dark comedy territory than it does into the horror genre. 

That’s not to say that Beau is Afraid can simply be shoehorned into one genre or the other, it is most certainly a mix of both. However, we found ourselves chuckling at the film’s various absurdities and character exaggerations, than we did getting mortified by the film’s confronting imagery. 

Does Beau is Afraid have jump scares? 

Yes, and no. Again, this is a decision that is likely to be made by the viewer. It doesn’t have spooky adversaries leaping at the camera seemingly from nowhere, but it does assault its audiences with confronting scenes, oftentimes in a drastic and jarring tonal shift from what was unfolding in the moments prior. 

At the very least, we can make one definitive statement of Beau is Afraid – the film is unsettling. However, we found it leaned a lot more heavily into dark comedy than it did into traditional horror territory that Ari Aster’s previous works have.