MovieChat Forums > Beau Is Afraid (2023) Discussion > Some movies don’t make you notice their ...

Some movies don’t make you notice their length, this one did.


Watched this last night. Had no idea how long it was until we paused it at what we THOUHT was at least 2/3 of the way through and was shocked to see we still had another two hours to go.

It’s not that I hated any scene in particular, or thought some parts overstayed their welcome, I didn’t really. I actually pretty much enjoyed every scene, laughed frequently, and when it ended I kept thinking about it afterwards, which, to me, is usually the hallmark of a great movie, because it’s continuing to entertain me after it ends.

But the length - I kept checking the clock to see how much longer and my wife was nearly at her wits end before it was over. The Seven Samurai or Killers of the Flower Moon are both longer, but I don’t notice the passage of time when watching those films. They end and I didn’t even notice I was sitting on my ass for over three hours, but Beau? I was ready for it to end at the two hour mark.

It’s odd to like a move but hate the length because I want to re-watch it to catch all the stuff I’m sure I missed, but I also DON’T want to sit through it again!

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The problem is that the movie packs so much information into 3 hours, and it doesn't feel like one continuous story. Killers starts and ends with the same story and themes. Beau changes it up constantly and feel like 4 or 5 different journeys. Your brain needs a break after a bit.

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The pacing is terrible.

I went in a fan of Aster, I left painfully bored and disillusioned.

Biggest problem is that the protagonist is a whiney self-absorbed neurotic weakling. He’s not just unlikeable, he’s offputting, and I’m not interested in his journey, let alone a 3 hour one into the butthole of his mind.

Aster needs to return to horror.

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Agreed, the first hour was great. The second hour starting to wonder if all these loose ends will ever end, and by the third is was "get on with it already

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