Review of You Were Never Really Here (2017) by Jon C — 01 May 2018

An amazing comeback for Joaquin Phoenix.

This film is dark, gritty, dour, and violent but showcases this actor's talent after a long absence.

An ex-soldier comes home bruised and torn taking care of his mother but also moonlighting as a vigilante saving underage girls from the horrors of sex trafficking.

This man also has a traumatic childhood living with an abusive father who hit him and his mom so he takes solace reliving it every night hoping to get past it.

His latest client puts him in a deep and terrible dilemma with one girl he actually has to save over and over again, he then goes all out maybe even finding a bright spot in a possible future.

The editing is kinda confusing at points but cleverly plays around with this man's psyche given all he's been through.

The music is also very nervewracking.

Plus I was surprised at how short this film was.

In that amount of time director Lynne Ramsay manages to tell a bloody, modern problem going on in the world but also showing how one person struggles to handle it all.

Phoenix is back at the height of his career.