Beau Is Afraid Star Joaquin Phoenix Urges Fans Not To Watch Movie on Mushrooms

Beau Is Afraid hit theaters this weekend, and it's the latest film by Ari Aster, who is best known for helming Hereditary and Midsommar. If you're familiar with Aster's films, you know they're not for the faint of heart. Beau Is Afraid stars Joaquin Phoenix as Beau, "a mild-mannered man riddled by paranoia, who confronts his worst fears on an epic journey to his hometown for his mother's funeral." ComicBook.com's Patrick Cavanaugh gave the movie a 4 out of 5 and called it "an absurd and anxiety-inducing odyssey." In fact, the movie is so "anxiety-inducing" that Phoenix is recommending folks don't partake in psychedelics while watching it.

"I was told from someone in college that there was this college thread amongst friends, a challenge they were going to take mushrooms and go see this movie," Phoenix shared during an interview with Fandango. "And I just wanted to make a public service announcement and say do not take mushrooms and go see this f*cking movie." He jokingly added, "But, if you do it, film yourself. But don't do it!"

Parker Posey Talks Joaquin Phoenix in Beau Is Afraid:

Parker Posey recently had a chat with ComicBook.com about the experience of making Beau Is Afraid, and revealed she mistook Phoenix for a handyman on set.

"When I first saw Joaquin, I thought he was fixing the trailer. And he walked in the hair and makeup trailer, and he was wearing this khaki ... He was wearing his costume from when he'd been running around. So we had all this blood and these bruises and stuff and I just really felt for him... Like, 'Oh wow, he's really ... He's going through a lot.' And then I saw that it was Joaquin. Because he shaved part of his head."

She continued, "It [the movie] was so overwrought... I'm like, 'This could be on opera. This could be on stage.' It's so drawn in this grand way, yet it's also very archetypal and textured and real. And when we rehearsed he [Joaquin] was like, 'Oh, I don't want to do it.' And then he would start putting on the physicality of it, and he was like, 'Ugh.' Because it's a lot."

Beau Is Afraid is now playing in theaters.