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Ari Aster, the horror maestro behind Hereditary and Midsommar, is out with Beau Is Afraid on four screens as A24 presents the SXSW-premiering film In LA (AMC Century City and Burbank) and New York (AMC Lincoln Square, Alamo Brooklyn), in Imax on both coasts, followed next week by a regional Imax expansion and into to a wider national rollout April 21.
The film is getting some love from Martin Scorsese, who join Aster in conversation Monday night after an Imax showing in NYC. Opening weekend will feature Q&As with Aster and cast, which includes Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan and Parker Posey.
The director has a dedicated fan base and that’s invaluable in looking to break out with the specialty market still tentative compared with the Super Mario Bros-sized rebound of the broader box office. Presales indicate a strong debut.
Deadline’s review calls this Aster’s biggest swing yet. It’s not horror. Here, the troubled main character (Phoenix), a paranoid man embarking on an epic odyssey to get back to his mother, is the one who’s afriad.
Other specialty openings: Utopia presents dark comedy Sick Of Myself by Kristoffer Borgli in NY/LA at the IFC Center and NuArt, ahead of Chicago’s Gene Siskel on April 21 and a national expansion the following week.
Premiered at Cannes last year, Deadline review here.
With director Q&As at both IFC and NuArt nearly sold, Utopia says it’s seeing “enthusiasm for the release and strong incoming exhibitor support,” including from Landmark Cinemas and Alamo Drafthouse. In an unconventional promo effort in line with his satirical feature, the Norwegian director released a short interview moderated by fellow filmmaker Al Warren (Dogleg).
Kristine Kujath Thorp stars as Signe, who feigns illness to garner sympathy and steer attention away from her artist boyfriend (Eirik Sæther).
The Cinema Guild opens Helen Wittmann’s elemental ode to the sea in Human Flowers of Flesh at the Metrograph in NYC, followed by a limited expansion. Stars Angeliki Papoulia (Dogtooth) as Ida, captain of a ship with a crew of five men, none of whom speak the same language. In Marseille, her attention is caught by the secretive world of the French Foreign Legion and she decides to follow its traces across the Mediterranean. Sailing via Corsica to the historical headquarters of the Legion in Algeria, boundaries blur and life at sea produces a special kind of mutual understanding. Wittmann’s follow-up to Drift played at the Locarno and New York Film Festivals.
Cohen Media Group presents François Ozon’s Everything Went Fine at the Quad today, expanding to the Laemmle LA next weekend before expanding. The film by the French director (8 Women, Swimming Pool) premiered at Cannes in 2021. See Deadline review. When André (André Dussollier) suffers a debilitating stroke and calls on his daughter Emmanuèle (Sophie Marceau) to help him die with dignity, she finds herself faced with a painful decision. Based on the memoir by Emmanuèle Bernheim. With a cameo by Charlotte Rampling as André’s ex-wife. CMG led up to the opening with a mini Ozon retrospective at the Quad this week.
IFC Films presents Katie Holmes-directed drama of recovery and addiction, Rare Objects, on 24 screens, day and date. An adaptation of Kathleen Tessaro’s novel of the same name, it stars Julia Mayorga as Benita, a young woman who reclaims her own sense of self through a journey of discovery that involves a new job, new friends and healing. Holmes co-stars.
From Drafthouse Films, Chop & Steel, the comic documentary from Ben Steinbauer and Berndt Mader (Winnebago Man) follows the friends and comedians (and Found Footage Festival Founders) Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, famous for pranking local news stations on live television as the fake strongman duo ‘Chop & Steele.’ They find themselves in federal court with a vengeful media conglomerate after their latest morning show stunt goes viral. The film will tour Alamo Drafthouses nationwide as a double feature with A Life On The Farm by Oscar Harding, also from Drafthouse Films. Follows the life of an eccentric farmer in rural England whose bizarre home movie has become a cult phenomenon.
Both played Fantastic Fest 2022 and are part of Alamo’s ‘Fantastic Fest Presents’ series. Q&As with the directors and some live comedy performances by Steinbauer and Mader after the showings.
Chop & Steel
A Life On The Farm