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 (2)
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Based on the novella by Jonathan Ames, the film follows Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), a former soldier and now ruthless hitman who is employed by ambitious politician Senator Votto (Alex Manette) to find his missing teenage daughter Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov) and punish those responsible for her disappearance. After discovering Nina has been lured into a notorious New York prostitution ring, Joe sets out on a dangerous rescue mission in an attempt to bring her home. The cast also includes Alessandro Nivola and Judith Roberts. (StudioCanal UK)
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An emotional quagmire of trauma, hopelessness, and yet another flawless performance by Joaquin Phoenix. This film isn't likely to appeal to a broad audience — it's too brutal, uncompromising, and depressing for that — but it will definitely resonate with a specific crowd. Personally, I'm drawn to these types of films. Sure, they leave me in an even worse mental state than usual, but something about them captivates me, even though immersing myself in such powerful and bleak stories isn't always ideal. The plot is simple and not particularly unique — essentially a classic crime story spiced up with a revenge thriller twist. However, the execution elevates it. The precise direction and the evocative score, beautifully complementing the narrative, are the film's main strengths alongside Phoenix's performance. There are several intensely brutal scenes, especially one at the end that really shook me. Still, I felt it could have been even more brutal; some scenes seemed slightly toned down. Yet, this was balanced by innovative camera work and directorial choices, like the use of security camera footage. Phoenix undergoes another complete physical and psychological transformation, becoming the character he portrays. He puts everything into his roles, and I wonder how long one can sustain such intensity without it taking a toll. The final scene cleverly blurs the line between a happy and tragic ending. You Were Never Really Here is a recommendation for discerning viewers who appreciate artistic approaches and are willing to wade through the muck of human suffering and emptiness.
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I didn't even get a chance to take a proper breath and the whole thing was over. This doesn't happen to me very often when watching movies, so despite some confusion in the narrative, I am extremely satisfied with it. Joaquin Phoenix takes on the role of a war veteran as if he had never played anyone else, and yet he has played so many diverse roles that few actors can boast of. He deservedly picked up some awards for his mesmerizing performance in this psychological thriller. For most of the time, I pondered the reason behind his actions and deeds, while my mind was constantly haunted by the highly unsettling music accompanied by nerve-wracking noises. I was very impressed by the visual sequences that complete the captivating atmosphere, which will probably remain in my memory for a long time. It will surely include the almost ritual burial of the mother in the lake depths. Even though there wasn't a full showdown at the very end, I wasn't disappointed because I wasn't really expecting anything like that. I gratefully acknowledge that, like the protagonist, everyone has to chew it over in their heads. And if you don't, a few blows with a hammer will certainly fix it. (80%)
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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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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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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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