Directed by:
Lynne RamsayScreenplay:
Lynne RamsayCinematography:
Thomas TownendComposer:
Jonny GreenwoodCast:
Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola, Alex Manette, John Doman, Judith Roberts, Frank Pando, Madison Arnold, Ronan Summers, Ekaterina Samsonov, Novella Nelson (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) is a hired gun who rescues trafficked girls, using brutal methods against those responsible. Caring for his elderly mother in his childhood home in New York City, he suffers from graphic flashbacks of his childhood, the abuse he and his mother faced from his violent father, and the brutal past in the military and FBI, and has suicidal thoughts. He embarks on a blood-drenched rescue mission, when Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov), the innocent 13-year-old daughter of an ambitious New York senator, never returns home. But amidst half-baked leads and a desperate desire to shake off the heavy burden of a personal hell, Joe's frenzied plummet into the depths of Tartarus is inevitable, and every step Joe takes to flee the pain, brings him closer to the horrors of insanity. (Umbrella Entertainment)
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Reviews (8)
It’s an artistic experience comparable to Drive with Ryan Gosling. The difference is, though, that Drive is a stepping stone to the best that the genre has to offer, and You Were Never Really Here is only getting close to it quality-wise. The music, which forms the cornerstone of quality in movies like this, is, in this case, good, but it could easily be better. Similarly, the story, which isn’t the principal motive of the film, is simple and good, but sometimes it could have been more imaginative. Otherwise, the camera work is high quality and still offers a number of unique perspectives you wouldn’t expect from a classic thriller. And of course, Joaquin Phoenix is absolutely enchanting even though he doesn’t talk much. Had the finale been a little more striking, I would maybe even consider a 5-star review. This way, it’s 4 out of 5 notches on the handle of a hammer.
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An indie version of Taken without everything that made Taken cool – stylish action scenes, likeable protagonists,
courage and interesting visuals. And without everything that could have made this indie version into a great movie – a
psychologically meaningful portrayal of the protagonist and her relationship to her protégé, artsy visuals or a deeper,
probably existential message. It’s not totally boring; the film’s dogged effort to be different at all costs has its moments
(for example, the kitchen scene with the wounded killer). But as a whole, it doesn’t rise above average, especially
because of the unremarkable ending.
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With numerous omissions, silences and hints, You Were Never Really Here is a very distinctive revenge flick that explains some things only after the fact (when snippets of flashbacks are put into a broader context) and others not at all. (The narrative, with dynamic cuts in the middle of the action, is highly compressed partly due to the need to shorten it – the budget was slashed significantly in the course of filming.) Ramsay does not in any way romanticise her taciturn tough guy with his numerous wounds on both his body and soul. For her, Joe is a wounded animal (which is aided by the respect-inspiring Joaquin Phoenix, who delivers another full-throttle performance following his turn in The Master) whose actions are unpredictable from one moment to the next. Together with compassion, he inspires fear and you definitely don’t feel very safe during the hour and a half that you spend in his company. The violence, which comes suddenly and is framed without dark humour or ironic exaggeration, is truly painful and unpleasant here, not only because the protagonist’s weapon of choice is a hammer. As the aggression shifts from the level of mere association (bloody handkerchiefs, crushing a piece of candy between his fingers) to something very concrete and very brutal (though the director continues to work brilliantly with evocative sounds and the off-screen space, leaving a lot to the imagination), the sense of danger becomes unbearably acute. The action scenes best demonstrate how the director methodically denies us the genre pleasure of the protagonist’s cleanly done work. We see one of the key bits of action only in static black-and-white shots from a security camera, the nondiegetic music and voices emanating from the television distract us from the brutal fight, and the “grand” climax is highly unsatisfying in terms of (not) fulfilling the conventions of the action genre. So much suffering and despair line the path to redemption that every partial success brings forth bitterness and deepening frustration instead of catharsis. It is simply impossible to enjoy the film, which makes it irritating and fascinating at the same time. Lynne Ramsay has made a stylistically diverse “feel bad” genre deconstruction (like in The American and Point Blank, meanings are communicated through style rather than through the words and actions of the characters), switching abruptly between raw realism, dream sequences and hypnotic intermezzos in which Jonny Greenwood’s aggressive music becomes the focal point. After the film had ended, I wasn’t entirely sure about what happened to whom in the story, what was a bad dream and what was an even worse reality. Like at the end of Good Time, however, I knew I wasn’t going to see anything comparably deviant in the cinema. But I wouldn't be surprised if this admirable exercise in narrative brevity is simply an underdeveloped genre experiment by a director who wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to make. Perhaps she didn’t know (and the last act was really made up as she went along), but for me, this was one of the most intense cinematic experiences of the year. 85%.
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Thematically quite close to my heart. Child prostitution, people trafficking, but in this film everything is so blandly presented that even the decrepit Joaquin Phoenix, whom I usually like, failed to impress me. A visually cheap film, artfully shot, interesting cinematography, off-screen violence, and most of all, never-ending boredom. We Need to Talk About Kevin was a far better film by Lynne Ramsay. This is a failure. 35%
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A straightforward film noir made as an art film, noble and action-free. We are shown bloody massacres only in mediated form or after the hammer has come to rest. The introductory exposition is unnecessarily long, even if it defines the relationship with his mother and the kind-hearted core of Phoenix’s role. The traumas of war (and equally of childhood) are clearer in the synopsis than in the movie itself. Although there’s no shortage of good ideas, it’s just not as hard-hitting as Drive. The acting is awesome, the traumas weighty, the dream sequence surprising, but the finale is just a less entertaining version of Taken with a tubby old guy instead of Neeson.
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