Beau is Afraid to me is a perfect representation of the abusive relationship between a parent and child.
The panic attacks and disassociation are no new story to the people watching it and at times it feels like it’s happening exactly to you the way the movie draws you into the shoes of Beau himself.
The phone call between Beau and Mona is perfectly drawn out. The nerve in Beau’s voice and the immediate disconnect between them emotionally are perfectly done. The silence tells you what you need to know, Beau is terrified of Mona and Mona has a hate for Beau that she can’t even grasp herself. Disappointment not at the situation but at Beau. At Beau simply because he’s her son and she’s his mother.
When Beau hears Mona finally admit to hating Beau we see Beau snap. He loves his mother, he believes that she loves him even when he confesses his frustration and concerns in their relationship. He hears the person that practically controls his throughts, his emotions, his living situation, what stree he’s on, the money he spends, and even the color shirt he wears hates him. He believes that Mona was protecting him from the outside world in some way he’s finally understood that his mother wasn’t protecting him. Mona wasn’t helping him and she didn’t even love him. He trusted her with his life and she hated him. He goes from kissing her legs begging to be forgiven to do anything to be forgiven to choking her.
When Beau is screaming for help from anyone, literally anyone. We see his eyes perfectly reflect the moment he knows no one will help him. He’s trapped dying the death his mother planned for him with his feet stuck in the boards and not a single person believes that he’s worthy of help or willing to help him. He’s completely and utterly alone. Like the version of himself that was curled up crying on the forest ground because he searched for a home and comfort (interpreted family being comfort for him in general) in every corner of the world that the okay in his head could think of and it left him cold and hungry with just the hat on his head. Take this moment as a parallel to him sinking in the boat. He’s searched in all the places his mother allowed him to search for some form of comfort from her and he’s left without her love or her help in the end. Deprived of love, blamed by his mother for every emotion she felt raising him and accused of not caring at all. The masked woman telling him about his sins and guilts could be the voice in his head that agrees with his mother or the voice of his mother in general. Finally, we see him drowning and struggling under the pressure he’s been convinced he created for himself and the story ends. And it’s the perfect ending. It’s so fucking horrible and perfect at the same time. My fucking God this movie was amazing.
