FROM HIS DARKEST FEARS COMES THE GREATEST ADVENTURE.

Expanded from a 2011 short, Hereditary director Ari Aster’s most ambitious and absurd film to date follows an angst-ridden man (Joaquin Phoenix) who’s trying to make his way to his domineering mother’s (Patti LuPone) home. Starts out as an effective satire of middle-class fears, set in a terrifying inner-city dystopia, then loses its way. Creative and funny or creepy moments, such as an arresting, partly animated sequence, are undermined by the running time. Great cast, but it’s a therapy session in need of better focus.

2023-U.S. 179 min. Color. Written and directed by Ari Aster. Cinematography: Pawel Pogorzelski. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (Beau Wassermann), Patti LuPone (Mona Wassermann), Amy Ryan (Grace), Nathan Lane, Kylie Rogers, Parker Posey… Michael Gandolfini, Bill Hader, David Mamet.