How much do you really want to know about horrormeister Ari Aster’s preoccupations and anxieties? That’s a question to consider seriously before subjecting yourself to Beau Is Afraid, a bleak black comedy that’s very occasionally hilarious, though mostly just tedious. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Beau, who’s born into this world in the movie’s opening scene, escorted by his mother’s muffled screams and staticky, ominous-sounding thunder cracks. We can’t, at first, see baby or mother—only mysterious, inky darkness punctuated by blurry red flashes. Initially, the infant isn’t crying, and presumably not breathing; his mother panics, snapping at the doctors. Then we hear a slap and a yowl, and one man’s life begins. Fasten you…