You Were Never Really Here (2018)

What a ride. What a dark, depressing, riveting ride.

I had very few expectations going into You Were Never Really Here. The story, characters, and aim – all were mysteries to me. After seeing it, I have never been happier that that has been the case. This film is shocking, brutal, and just an overall rough emotional experience. It also tells a story of sex trafficking that is too real to be ignored, and my guess is that is the main point this movie tries to get across. You Were Never Really Here mirrors themes of and comments on some recent events in the news like the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, focusing on how the rich and powerful can do anything they want to just about anybody – (horrifyingly) including 13-year-old girls. I was almost brought to tears several times in this hour and twenty-five-minute film because I realized how unfortunately realistic this story might be.

The film has a great voice behind it in Lynne Ramsay’s direction. She often takes a slower hand to the editing to pack as much into this short film as possible which in many ways makes its emotional blows even harder. The cinematography and lighting also help paint a nuanced, deep picture of depression, the horrors of war, and the repercussions of sexual abuse on generation after generation. Ramsay setting this film in New York is no accident either: the juxtaposition between the so-called “greatest city in the world” and these atrocities of human nature helps hammer home the film’s perspective on human nature and its ultimate depravity like few other films I have seen. She also writes this film, and the synergy between her script and her direction is astonishing. Ramsay seems to know exactly how much to show and not show when it comes to the several flashbacks to show the protagonist Joe’s many layers while also refraining from the use of heavy dialogue at many points throughout the film.

Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as Joe, though, is what hammers this film home. He plays this grizzled, world-weary Iraq combat veteran who at first, I could not appreciate very much. Phoenix shows a lot of emotion with very few words, acting in his walk, his posture, and his movements and gestures. The way the film plays out means that he must reveal his characters true thoughts in one moment and hide them in the next in the very same situation, and he pulls off this hard task smoothly and effortlessly. This is one of Phoenix’s best performances in recent years, and I would not be one bit surprised if we hear his named called for some nominations come next awards season.

Between the respective work of Phoenix and Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here tells one riveting story. It is brutal, horrific, and dark – but that is what propels it to its emotional heights. It is a one-inch-punch to the gut from its outset, and it never seems to let up or become hopeful until its final moments. The realm of child prostitution and sex trafficking is a hard one to depict tactfully yet fully in film, but this film somehow gets nearly everything right in telling a cautionary tale that is intentionally not outside the realm of possibility.

My recommendation: If you think you can stomach it, watch it.

My grade: 85/100