You Were Never Really Here

Based on Jonathan Ames' novella of the same name, the film is rooted so firmly in Joe's point of view he sometimes is absent from the screen entirely. We're inside his head.

2557d ago

Lynne Ramsay makes a stunning return with this stark, psychologically raddled hitman thriller, led by a quietly furious Joaquin Phoenix.

2557d ago

Because of “Ratcatcher,” “Morvern Callar” and “We Need To Talk About Kevin,” we have always been there for Ramsay, wherever “there” has been. But we were never really here before, and now that we are, one simple request: Can Lynne Ramsay please direct all movies, forever?

2557d ago

Although the level of violence and gore is extreme, it never feels unjustified or gratuitous.

2557d ago

Lynne Ramsay’s latest removes all the artifice from the thriller genre, and leaves only the suspense and trauma.

2557d ago

Joaquin Phoenix is a human wrecking ball in Lynne Ramsay's electrifying You Were Never Really Here

2557d ago

Oddly, in a year in which everyone has half-joked that every sci-fi property is a stealth Cloverfield sequel, Ramsay (Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar) has hidden that vision of Wolverine, that conflicted death dealer, within a grimy, gritty crime drama that sears through the darkest of American underbellies.

2557d ago

Director Lynne Ramsay and her leading man deliver an existentialist hired-killer story that aims for the head and hits you in the gut

2557d ago

Gulf War vet and ex-FBI Agent Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) is a killer specialising in hits within the child-sex trade. He is hired by Senator Votto (Alex Manette) to extract the latter’s daughter Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov) from a brothel but the rescue goes badly wrong, embroiling Joe in a conspiracy.

2557d ago

Lynne Ramsay’s portrait of a traumatised tough guy on a rescue mission is a dreamlike drama that wilfully defies convention

2557d ago

Joaquin Phoenix shows the dark depths of PTSD in ‘You Were Never Really Here’

2557d ago

How Lynne Ramsay tells the story of a PTSD-scarred private eye (Joaquin Phoenix) tends to be more interesting than the story itself

2557d ago

The story lurches forward in spasms. We’re fully in the head space of a messed-up, hollowed-out psyche. Backed by Jonny Greenwood’s sinister wash of a musical score, You Were Never Really Here feels like a waking nightmare.

2557d ago

Some strains of this fearsome film, to be honest, feel overworked and arch. When Joe finds his white-haired mother sitting in front of the TV, for example, does it have to be showing “Psycho”?

2557d ago

The gravity and force of Mr. Phoenix’s performance and Ms. Ramsay’s direction are impressive, but it’s hard not to feel that their talents have been misapplied, and that there is less to the movie than meets the eye.

2557d ago

Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here is rather minimalist, offering slivers of story and characterization.

2557d ago

Lynne Ramsay, the director of 'Ratcatcher' and 'We Need to Talk About Kevin,' teams with Joaquin Phoenix for a mysterious tale about a hitman trying to save a teen prostitute.

2557d ago