Review of You Were Never Really Here

The film begins by introducing us to the aftermath of something. We see the tight close-ups of Joaquin Phoenix doing some cleanup. We see blood and a hammer so we know it's something bad but that's all director Lynne Ramsay shows us. And that's enough for us to know what might have happened. Ramsay does this on multiple occasions in the film. She doesn't spoon feed but hints. That's one of the most fascinating things about 'You were never really here'. The film respects, and trusts it's audience to connect the dots. There are a lot of emotions in this film and all of them are just alluded to rather than told. Tight framing combined with excellent composition and movement convey everything without much dialogue. Joaquin Phoenix totally gets what Ramsay is going for and delivers one of the most intense performances you'll see in a long time. Everything he does has immense psychological weight behind it. The way he talks, looks, whimpers, cries...just terrific. The rest of the cast did a solid job. The film might not be everyone's cup of tea because this is a slow burn that uses mood, instead of plot development, to create tension. I prefer Ramsay's earlier work 'We need to talk about Kevin' to this but yet one can't deny that she is a damn good filmmaker and this a damn good film.