The plot summary for ‘You Were Never Really Here’ sounds like it is quite a conventional thriller. A man, Joe, who makes a living searching for missing kids is hired to find a senator’s daughter and becomes embroiled in a paedophile ring involving powerful political figures. However, this latest film from director Lynne Ramsay is far from conventional.
The story is fractured, with a plot that doesn’t unfold in a fully comprehensible way to start with, as it features brief, elusive, flashbacks to Joe’s past and the soundtrack that is populated with discordant noise. But if you retain your patience this turns out to be a rewarding watch. Joaquin Phoenix perfectly portrays the part of a man who is haunted by his past and is disintegrating mentally.
The brief moments of violence are brutal but not exploitative, and once I was used to the amped-up sound, it proved crucial to the movie, and that includes another superb score from Johnny Greenwood. Aside from Phoenix, plaudits have to be given to Ekaterina Samsonov as the missing girl, as she impresses in a very difficult part.
This is probably unlike anything you have seen before. The only film I could come up with in terms of a comparison is Hardcore from 1979, but this is much more experimental than that. Disturbing and far from an easy watch, I think this is a film that will linger in the memory.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10