Joaquin Phoenix warns people not to watch ‘Beau is Afraid’ after taking mushrooms
Actor Joaquin Phoenix has made a plea to cinema lovers not to watch his latest film Beau is Afraid under the influence of magic mushrooms. Phoenix had caught wind of an online forum thread in which college students were suggesting watching Ari Aster’s film after taking the psychedelic drug.
“I was told from someone in college that there was this college thread amongst friends, a challenge they were going to take mushrooms and go see this movie,” Phoenix told Fandango. “And I just wanted to make a public service announcement and say, do not take mushrooms and go see this fucking movie.”
Phoenix went on to describe the first time he watched Beau is Afraid in the cinema. “I was definitely squirming in my seat. First of all, I’m just laughing about the entire fucking movie,” he said. “There’s a couple of sequences where I’m just squirming – I mean, stuff that [Aster] did with the sound design, it was really great”.
“It’s such a rich world, and there’s so many details to see in it. It is a hundred percent a movie that you feel,” Phoenix added. “There’s so many rich, complex themes in this film, but it’s such a visceral experience to watch it. Then you leave, and when that feeling subsides, you start thinking about it.”
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