10 Awesome 2023 Horror Movies That Didn't Deserve To Flop
2. Beau Is Afraid
There was no bigger nor more depressing horror flop this year than Ari Aster's mesmerising - if also understandably divisive - surreal horror-comedy Beau is Afraid.
Aster's Joaquin Phoenix-starring three-hour epic was nothing if not a pure, uncut passion project from the filmmaker, who evidently convinced A24 to give him $35 million to make the movie after giving them back-to-back box office hits with Hereditary and Midsommar.
Few were expecting his third feature - an aggressively confronting, unsettling, and materially strange genre mish-mash - to repeat the commercial success of what came before, though horror fans were at least hopeful the weirdos would turn out for it regardless.
Yet that price tag - almost double the budgets of Hereditary and Midsommar combined - ensured a road to profitability was basically impossible, and Aster's film ended up grossing a pitiful $11.5 million globally.
Aster himself expressed disappointment with its performance, and the film's failure reportedly played a part in A24's recent decision to expand into developing bigger-budget, more IP-focused projects.
Though Beau is Afraid likely fared better on streaming than theatrically, it's still a sad fate for one of the most creative and uncompromising movies of the year coming from a true visionary filmmaker.