Film Review: You Were Never Really Here (2017)

With four films to her name and an uncommon reverence in the film community, Scottish director Lynne Ramsay has earned the right to be known as one of the greatest film directors currently alive. Tilda Swinton, the lead in We Need to Talk About Kevin, said of her “She is one of those rare directors who creates the kinds of films that just would not be there if she didn’t make them”. Eight years after her last film Ramsay returns with You Were Never Really Here – one of the best films of 2018.

Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) is a war veteran working as a hitman. In New York City where the filthy underbelly of child sex trafficking is a constant feature he spends his time liberating the girls in the system and brutally putting down those responsible. Between taking care of his elderly mother (Judith Roberts) and planning his next job, Joe is beginning to crack. The thick unkempt beard can’t quite hide the expression behind it; this is a broken man whose past has traumas that can’t be forgotten or forgiven. When a state senator employs Joe to track down a particularly important abductee, his daughter, the job unearths some particularly gruesome secrets. Caught in a conspiracy involving police and politicians, what started out as a simple job spirals out of control.

When one of the actors of his generation collaborates with one of the greatest living directors, you know you’re in for something special, and the results do not disappoint. From the synopsis alone it sounds a bit like a tacky action film that studios push out mid-year, like Taken or The Equaliser. Yet in Ramsay’s hands this is a masterclass in telling a story through artistic filmmaking. You’re unlikely to see a better use of the craft this year.

It serves almost like a clever deconstruction of the subject matter. There is violence present in this story – particularly gruesome violence at times – and yet it’s a film equally concerned with the psychological toll that witnessing such a thing takes. Not only are there scenes of people getting brutally put down, but it also includes the often overlooked scene several days later when the character gets guilty and has violent flashbacks to it while waiting for the bus – here helped by Joe Bini‘s brilliant skills in editing.

Phoenix is a particularly great actor who can accomplish things few others can, and in his hands Joe becomes a multidimensional and memorable leading man, one of the best of the year. Every line on his face seems to have a story behind it, and as his disturbing backstory comes to the fore it seems that lives of violence start young. Acting against Phoenix would be a particularly difficult task, so all credit to the young but extremely talented Russian actress Ekaterina Samsono for holding her own against a theatrical force of nature. 

Ramsay is a cinematic poet. What lingers in the memory are not plot details or characters – amazing as they often are – but rather little details or pieces of photography. We Need to Talk About Kevin proved that things don’t have to be shown to be disturbing, just like here how violence doesn’t have to go into detail to be squirm inducing. She’s the master of telling a story with sound and visuals; few others can do it as well. 

Every song in the excellent soundtrack has thought put into it, blending perfectly with Jonny Greenwood‘s original score which shares the same DNA as a lot of horror movie soundtracks. Although it isn’t often mentioned in reviews, the sound mixing and ADR is so phenomenally good here that it’s worth gushing over. Sound can be the thing that makes a good film a great one and anyone looking for an education into how the aural features of cinema can enhance the experience should rush and see this immediately.

While not always an easy watch, You Were Never Really Here is one of the most artistically bloody and memorable times spent in a cinema this year. Ramsay isn’t the fastest working director in Hollywood but she’s surely one of the smartest.

You Were Never Really Here is in cinemas from 6th September through Umbrella Films.