Genre: Drama
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola, Judith Roberts, Ekaterine Samonov, Alex Manette, John Doman, Jason Babinsky, Vinicius Damasceno, Kate Easton, Jonathan Wilde, Dante Pereira-Olson, Leigh Dunham
Description: A traumatized veteran (Joaquin Phoenix), unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe's nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.
Review: Scottish director Lynne Ramsay doesn’t scare away from controversy. In her films she often takes on themes like poverty, suicide and grief.
In “You Were Never Really Here”, she uses another heavy theme: the illegal sex industry and the exploitation of children within that world. And there is also a strange fight for power going own, if that’s not enough.
We follow lead character Joe, a war veteran whose mission is to rescue the girls from the hands of the perverse people working in the industry.
Joe is played by Joaquin Phoenix, who gives away an intense performance. He has his own demons to deal with, but he goes a long way to save the children from this nasty world. His inner rage make him reach his goals.
Ramsay doesn’t scare away from violence either. Joe’s rescues are brutal and graphic. But the violence is not just there for the violence. This film is not for the faint of heart and the overall film isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
“You Were Never Really Here” leaves a lot of questions unanswered and at the end, I didn’t really know what I just saw. It’s a strange film, that somehow reminded me of “Drive” or Scorsese’s and DePalma’s oeuvre.
The film is heavy on the eyes, there is a lot you need to take in. And even with the film being only 90 minutes long, it feels like three hours. “You Were Never Really Here” is a film that I probably need to watch again sometime, because I found it pretty weird and hard to digest.
Rating: 3 / 5
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