2023 Larry Prater Award For Best Viewing
Ari Aster's three hours surreal horror masterpiece Beau is Afraid, without much surprise, wins the 2023 Larry Prater Award For Best Viewing. The best qualifier I can use to talk about this movie is "excessive". Beau is Afraid is an excessive, luxuriant and anxiety-inducing journey into the world perceived by the mind of a person suffering from a major anxiety disorder. Not only it's colourful and nightmarish, but it's also an eerily accurate depiction of what the world looks like when your anxiety gets out of control.
Beau is Afraid is a polarizing movie. You either love its absolute dedication to portraying what the world looks like when your mind collapses or you’ll get fed up within one hour of its hard changes of directions and creative whims because it is a creative whim party. But I find it comforting and reassuring that in this age of data and precision, someone still has the balls to be boundless and conceptual. That’s why I’m awarding this third Larry Prater Award for Best Viewing to Ari Aster’s latest.
