Academy Award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix stands alongside different versions of himself throughout time in the latest poster for Beau is Afraid, the latest offering from Hereditary director Ari Aster. Released courtesy of A24, much of Beau is Afraid remains a mystery (with only speculation and theorizing offering us some insight into what the movie could be about), with this latest poster likely to only create further questions. You can check out the newly released poster for Beau is Afraid below.

“You’ve been waiting a lifetime,” reads the enigmatic caption alongside the poster, which has been released in anticipation of the release of the first trailer for Beau is Afraid, which is set to debut next Tuesday. The image finds Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Beau across different stages of his life, from childhood to old age, which at least lets us know that Beau is Afraid will track across the character’s entire life.

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Beau is Afraid recently revealed a title change, with the project previously known as Disappointment Blvd.. Since the change of title, many have concluded that Beau is Afraid will be a feature-length take on Ari Aster’s 2011 short film, Beau, which follows a neurotic middle-aged man whose attempt to visit his mother is delayed indefinitely when his keys are mysteriously taken from his door. But, of course, this being an Ari Aster tale, things are far more complicated than a simple case of misplaced keys, with the man being haunted by an increasingly sinister chain of upsetting events.

RELATED: Will Ari Aster’s Disappointment Blvd. Be a Horror Film?

Is Beau is Afraid Based on Ari Aster’s 2011 Short Film?

     A24

All that has been revealed so far regarding Beau is Afraid is that the movie will be a surrealist horror-comedy and has been described as a “decades-spanning surrealist horror film set in an alternate present.” Phoenix will reportedly portray an “extremely anxious but pleasant-looking man who has a fraught relationship with his overbearing mother and never knew his father” who is tormented by “wild supernatural threats” after trying to visit his estranged momma. Which certainly sounds a lot like Aster’s short film…

Beau is Afraid has amassed a stellar ensemble cast alongside Joker star Joaquin Phoenix and includes the likes of Parker Posey (Lost in Space), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Dune), Denis Ménochet (The French Dispatch), Hayley Squires (In the Earth), Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark) and Zoe Lister-Jones (How It Ends). Additionally, Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building, The Lion King), Patti LuPone (Hollywood), Amy Ryan (Only Murders in the Building), and Kylie Rogers (Yellowstone) joined the cast, with Daybreak actor Armen Nahapetian starring as young Beau.

While he may only have a few movies under his belt, the critically acclaimed Hereditary and Midsommar director Ari Aster has already proven himself to be a filmmaker of unique creativity who can conjure genuine terror on the big screen. And with Joaquin Phoenix at the center of his latest outing, Beau is Afraid should sit high on your “must-watch” list this year.

Beau is Afraid has not yet been given a specific release date but is expected to debut in theaters in April 2023.