Truth in advertising: Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) is afraid, of nearly everything, including his domineering mother (Patti Lupone), whom he plans to visit very soon; sex (he was told his father, who had a heart murmur, died immediately upon his conception); accidentally drinking mouthwash; and much of the world outside his apartment, in the large fictionalized city of Corrina where he lives. To be fair, in Ari Aster s audaciously perverse jet-black comedy, Beau is shown over and over again to be fully justified with his many apprehensions.