You Were Never Really Here
Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor at Cannes for his role in this thriller from the director of We Need to Talk About Kevin.
"A missing teenage girl. A brutal and tormented enforcer on a rescue mission. Corrupt power and vengeance unleash a storm of violence that may lead to his awakening." (Cannes Film Festival)
- Director:
- Lynne Ramsay ('We Need to Talk About Kevin', 'Morvern Callar', 'Ratcatcher')
- Writer:
- Lynne Ramsay
- Cast:
- Joaquin PhoenixEkaterina SamsonovAlessandro NivolaAlex ManetteJohn DomanJudith RobertsRyan Martin BrownJason Babinsky
Reviews & comments
Vulture
pressYou Were Never Really Here is a powerful assault of a film, but it's missing its director's inimitable poetry.
Variety
pressRamsay has made more sensually rapturous films, but this may be her most formally exacting: No shot or cut here is idle or extraneous.
Total Film
pressLynne Ramsay returns with a scuzzy, stripped-back thriller focused on the man, rather than the mission.
The Times
pressIf you're still with the movie after the first ten minutes you're probably with it for the long haul (and possibly for life - it lingers).
The Telegraph
pressIn these staggeringly taut 85 minutes, Ramsay sees a hopeless universe in a jelly bean.
The Guardian
pressThe ghost of Travis Bickle haunts this nightmarish and humidly absorbing psychological drama from Lynne Ramsay.
New Zealand Herald
pressIt's spellbinding stuff and Ramsay's sensual style of story-telling is undeniably compelling.
Little White Lies
pressYou Were Never Really Here presents as Ramsay's first genre offering, ramping up the body count and bloodshed, while maintaining her usual focus on unusual characters.
Collider
pressTo watch Phoenix, an actor at the height of his dramatic powers, on screen and under Ramsey's direction makes You Were Never Really Here something of a must-see.
Joaquin Phoenix is great in this. The story is explosive and relentless at times but some beautiful scenes also. So it doesn't add up that for the most part, it felt a little dull and not entertaining...Perhaps too high expectations going in...
Slow-burn, moody, combat vet rescues kid movies are always in the shadow of Taxi Driver, but director Lynne Ramsey delivers the existential dread in spades. With shades of brutal Brit noirs Get Carter and Mona Lisa, a dash of Man on Fire, and a powerhouse performance by Joaquin Phoenix, it’s mesmerising, dark and broody, but never connects emotionally,...
Vulture
pressYou Were Never Really Here is a powerful assault of a film, but it's missing its director's inimitable poetry.
Variety
pressRamsay has made more sensually rapturous films, but this may be her most formally exacting: No shot or cut here is idle or extraneous.
Total Film
pressLynne Ramsay returns with a scuzzy, stripped-back thriller focused on the man, rather than the mission.
The Times
pressIf you're still with the movie after the first ten minutes you're probably with it for the long haul (and possibly for life - it lingers).
The Telegraph
pressIn these staggeringly taut 85 minutes, Ramsay sees a hopeless universe in a jelly bean.
The Guardian
pressThe ghost of Travis Bickle haunts this nightmarish and humidly absorbing psychological drama from Lynne Ramsay.
New Zealand Herald
pressIt's spellbinding stuff and Ramsay's sensual style of story-telling is undeniably compelling.
Little White Lies
pressYou Were Never Really Here presents as Ramsay's first genre offering, ramping up the body count and bloodshed, while maintaining her usual focus on unusual characters.
Collider
pressTo watch Phoenix, an actor at the height of his dramatic powers, on screen and under Ramsey's direction makes You Were Never Really Here something of a must-see.
Joaquin Phoenix is great in this. The story is explosive and relentless at times but some beautiful scenes also. So it doesn't add up that for the most part, it felt a little dull and not entertaining...Perhaps too high expectations going in...
Slow-burn, moody, combat vet rescues kid movies are always in the shadow of Taxi Driver, but director Lynne Ramsey delivers the existential dread in spades. With shades of brutal Brit noirs Get Carter and Mona Lisa, a dash of Man on Fire, and a powerhouse performance by Joaquin Phoenix, it’s mesmerising, dark and broody, but never connects emotionally,...
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