Synopsis
A traumatised veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, his nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.
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Cast
- Joaquin PhoenixJoe
- Judith RobertsJoe's Mother
- Ekaterina SamsonovNina Votto
- John DomanJohn McCleary
- Alex ManetteSenator Albert Votto
- Dante Pereira-OlsonYoung Joe
- Alessandro NivolaGovernor Williams
- Larry CanadyCincinnati Cab Driver
- Vinicius DamascenoMoises
- Neo RandallMoises's Friend
Recommendations
- 100
CineVue
Over the years, Phoenix has given us some of the most memorable portraits of dark flawed men from Commodus to Johnny Cash. Here, he is excellent, utterly convincing as a man who has been hammered by the world and so has decided to hammer it back. - 100
The Playlist
The entire, whippet-lean film feels like an experiment in impressionist condensation, as though Ramsay is testing the limits of how little she can give us, and how weird it can be, while still delivering a recognisable revenge thriller. - 100
The Telegraph
It’s not an experience to relish, exactly, but it’s still one that’s fully capable of blowing you away. - 100
Screen Daily
Ramsay elevates the material way beyond the conventional by sheer filmmaking craft. - 100
Variety
Ramsay has made more sensually rapturous films, but this may be her most formally exacting: No shot or cut here is idle or extraneous. - 100
The Film Stage
On the level of montage, You Were Never Really Here is an expressionistic tour de force. - 80
The Guardian
It is a movie which teeters perpetually on the verge of hallucination, with hideous images and horrible moments looming suddenly through the fog; its movement is largely inward and downward, into a swamp of suppressed abuse memories which are never entirely pieced together or understood – even as the sickeningly violent action continues. - 70
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Cinematically, it’s undeniably gripping, a tightly wound contraption of nervous energy, grief, and gore. But it’s in service of a story that’s been told countless times before, and it’s not clear where Ramsay’s usually singular point of view is in play.
