You Were Never Really HereOnly the most stalwart paladins brave the dark recesses of the underworld. You Were Never Really Here is a gritty suspense film about an ex-military veteran and former FBI agent named Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), who supports his elderly mother (Judith Roberts) financially by secretly exfiltrating young girls being exploited by depraved sex traffickers, rescuing them from danger by any brutal means necessary. Joe is hired by Senator Albert Votto (Alex Manette) on the basis of his reputation to recover his teenage daughter, Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov). When events spiral out of control, Joe is confronted with the terrible cost of his unsung crusade to protect the innocent.
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Directed by Lynne Ramsay and adapted from the novel of the same name by Jonathan Ames, You Were Never Really Here has been compared to Taxi Driver, both in the themes it explores and its premise. Like Travis Bickle, Joe has been traumatized by his experiences in war, evidenced in a flashback where his kindness in giving a child a candy bar in a war zone subsequently gets the boy shot. This haunting memory is one of many that adds poignancy to the film's title--had Joe never acted and disrupted the cruel status quo, things would not have gotten worse than they did. Joe is filled with the dread that everything he does will blow up in his face, and that it would be better if he were never really here in the first place. (This is bitterly underscored after Nina's rescue is upended, and the trauma stays with Joe for the rest of the movie.) Joe's flashbacks probe deep into his subconscious; he is a troubled man who was abused by his father as a boy, which confused his interpretation of masculinity and fueled his violent side. His father used to threaten him with the same kind of ball-peen hammer which he favors as his weapon of choice during his violent incursions into dens of child sex trafficking. The hammer becomes a quintessential totem of authority and power--one that Joe wields like a holy avenger, smiting the evil with righteous fury. How Joe looks and carries himself speaks volumes about his painful life experiences and unresolved trauma, not to mention his highly dangerous (and illegal) occupation. He looks dangerous, despite his soft-spoken voice, which includes mumbling to himself and others. He moves through the dark alleys of New York City in a hoodie and painter jeans; his shambling stride and scruffy beard makes him look like a grizzly bear--a force not to be trifled with. Joe's occupation necessitates discretion--for his clients and his handler, John McCleary (John Doman)--he knows that the kind of people he attacks are unscrupulous enough to go to any length to retaliate. When he is watched by other people--whether at an airport or in the alleyway outside of his home--he imagines that he is invisible to them. This is partly born from a desire to conceal his business, but also because of his poor self-esteem and low estimation of himself. He is driven to avenge those whose lives have been forever ruined--emphasized through a horrifying flashback from his days as an FBI agent, when he discovered a trailer filled with the corpses of young girls. Joe identifies with these girls as a victim of abuse himself, and may even be emotionally locked into a similar mental age following his own traumatic experiences. As such, he is rescuing himself each time he rescues one of these girls, hoping that he can spare them the same feelings of powerlessness and any further loss of innocence like he has suffered.
You Were Never Really Here sounds like a brutal and straightforward action movie, yet it rarely glorifies (or even shows) the brutality Joe is reputed to deliver against his enemies. Despite Joe's capacity for horrible violence, this suggests that he is adverse to it, and would just as soon wipe it away from his memories. Joe's infiltration the townhouse where Nina is kept prisoner is shown through surveillance camera footage, muting the intensity of the violence, yet adding a level of realism eerily reminiscent of a snuff film. There is a pregnant pause after Senator Votto tells Joe, "I want you to hurt them". Joe is considering how the line between being a hired thug and a liberator of children has just dissolved--he is really being hired for his capacity to rescue Nina an invited to kill for money. Joe never comments on or debates his assignment, and he performs it like a stoic professional--albeit with a few idiosyncrasies--if the opening scene where he disposes of the evidence from his previous extraction is any testament to his abilities. Joe's role as a quiet and efficient operative lurking in the shadows of the city recalls another neo-noir action film, Drive--both protagonists' even wield hammers in moments of ultra-violence. Joe is a large yet quiet protector of children with a substantial capacity for pain, reminiscent of David Dunn from Unbreakable. Joe spends a significant part of the first act preparing to rescue Nina, including purchasing equipment from the hardware store, buying snacks for her after she is safely in his custody, and even visiting a sauna to purge whatever toxins might interfere with the inevitable violence yet to come. The scars of Joe's childhood suffering still creeps up in these preparatory episodes. He finds solace in asphyxiating himself with a plastic bag, toughening himself up into the man he believes he should be--notions implied to have been drilled into him by his father. You Were Never Really Hear highlights moments that are neither violent or bloody, and establish Joe as a loving son to his aging mother, caring for her despite her waning faculties. Some of the most convincing moments follow his return to the house late one night. He discovers his mother passed out watching Psycho, and waits with her while she tries to go to sleep, since she was scared by the movie. When his mother accidentally floods the bathtub, Joe cleans up the overflow by shuffling across the tile floor with a towel under his feet. While recovering from his prior job, Joe holds a bag of frozen peas against a contusion on his left shoulder. Small moments like these add verisimilitude to the relationship between Joe and his mother. This adds another dimension in his quest to save Nina, since he understands the value of protecting what is good against the devils that desire to bring ruin upon them.
Recommended for: Fans of a compelling psychological portrait of a man whose physical and emotional scars have forged him into a defender of weak, while deflecting his own inner demons that plague his self-worth. You Were Never Really Here deals with important and mature themes--from sex trafficking, political corruption, and post-traumatic stress; yet it refrains from exploiting these themes in favor of contemplating them through meditative observation.
You Were Never Really Here sounds like a brutal and straightforward action movie, yet it rarely glorifies (or even shows) the brutality Joe is reputed to deliver against his enemies. Despite Joe's capacity for horrible violence, this suggests that he is adverse to it, and would just as soon wipe it away from his memories. Joe's infiltration the townhouse where Nina is kept prisoner is shown through surveillance camera footage, muting the intensity of the violence, yet adding a level of realism eerily reminiscent of a snuff film. There is a pregnant pause after Senator Votto tells Joe, "I want you to hurt them". Joe is considering how the line between being a hired thug and a liberator of children has just dissolved--he is really being hired for his capacity to rescue Nina an invited to kill for money. Joe never comments on or debates his assignment, and he performs it like a stoic professional--albeit with a few idiosyncrasies--if the opening scene where he disposes of the evidence from his previous extraction is any testament to his abilities. Joe's role as a quiet and efficient operative lurking in the shadows of the city recalls another neo-noir action film, Drive--both protagonists' even wield hammers in moments of ultra-violence. Joe is a large yet quiet protector of children with a substantial capacity for pain, reminiscent of David Dunn from Unbreakable. Joe spends a significant part of the first act preparing to rescue Nina, including purchasing equipment from the hardware store, buying snacks for her after she is safely in his custody, and even visiting a sauna to purge whatever toxins might interfere with the inevitable violence yet to come. The scars of Joe's childhood suffering still creeps up in these preparatory episodes. He finds solace in asphyxiating himself with a plastic bag, toughening himself up into the man he believes he should be--notions implied to have been drilled into him by his father. You Were Never Really Hear highlights moments that are neither violent or bloody, and establish Joe as a loving son to his aging mother, caring for her despite her waning faculties. Some of the most convincing moments follow his return to the house late one night. He discovers his mother passed out watching Psycho, and waits with her while she tries to go to sleep, since she was scared by the movie. When his mother accidentally floods the bathtub, Joe cleans up the overflow by shuffling across the tile floor with a towel under his feet. While recovering from his prior job, Joe holds a bag of frozen peas against a contusion on his left shoulder. Small moments like these add verisimilitude to the relationship between Joe and his mother. This adds another dimension in his quest to save Nina, since he understands the value of protecting what is good against the devils that desire to bring ruin upon them.
Recommended for: Fans of a compelling psychological portrait of a man whose physical and emotional scars have forged him into a defender of weak, while deflecting his own inner demons that plague his self-worth. You Were Never Really Here deals with important and mature themes--from sex trafficking, political corruption, and post-traumatic stress; yet it refrains from exploiting these themes in favor of contemplating them through meditative observation.