Beau

This is a big improvement on Herman's Cure-All Tonic (2008), with Beau being an overall very good short film from Ari Aster. It's like the first quarter of 2023's Beau is Afraid, but condensed into only about seven minutes. I feel like if I had watched this before seeing Beau is Afraid, my one complaint would've been wanting it to be longer... but then Beau is Afraid comes around with a 179-minute runtime, and it might've felt like a case of "Be careful what you wish for."

I liked the mix of absurd and mean-spirited comedy with a constant sense of anxiety. It builds well, but unfortunately doesn't seem to know how to end well - I do think that might be another criticism, beyond wishing to see this play out over a few more minutes.

But it's still good. I think it's roughly as effective as a short film as Beau is Afraid was as a very long film. Both feel as though they're worth checking out.