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| Joaquin Phoenix in "You Were Never Really Here" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
Thrillers of any kind that take place in an urban area are always enticing to watch. Whether they be slow-burners or fast-paced stories, having such narratives in these types of locations offers the chance to go through a vast world as you traverse crowded streets, alleyways, grit, and grime while meeting many different characters. Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” is a definitive example of this. Since then, some modern examples include David Fincher’s “Seven,” Ben Affleck’s “The Town,” and Ben and Josh Safdie’s “Good Time.”
Now, director Lynne Ramsay provides us with a descent into an urban underworld with her film “You Were Never Really Here,” a heavy, visceral thriller that’s guided by Ramsay’s deep psychological examination of her main character and a top-tier performance from Joaquin Phoenix. And, while the film may seem like it’s similar to “Taxi Driver,” there’s enough that’s different about it to help it stand on its own.
Joe (Phoenix) is a former FBI agent and combat veteran who lives in New York City and works as a hired gun to save girls from trafficking. When he’s tasked with rescuing the abducted daughter (Ekaterina Samsonov) of a New York State Senator (Alex Manette), he soon realizes that there’s a larger conspiracy at play.
Phoenix delivers a remarkable performance as a man who’s experienced much distress in his life. While Phoenix’s given scenes where his character has dialogue, he’s given almost just as many scenes where he doesn’t have any, the latter scenes of which fit with the loner mentality that seems to come from the effects that Joe’s past has had on him. This aspect of Phoenix’s character helps us to sympathize with Joe and understand through what he’s going. Phoenix makes the audience work for the knowledge of Joe’s background, which is something that wouldn’t have been as rewarding to figure out had Joe just been a ferocious justice-seeker without any depth to his character.
One of the most intriguing parts of Phoenix’s role is how we learn quite a bit from his character just from a close-up of a jelly bean being crushed between his thumb and index finger. This relates to Joe seeming to always have violence on his mind. With this, we feel for Joe because, despite him using his abilities for good, it’s as if violence is engrained in him, and we’re left to wonder what kind of effect this has on him psychologically. This all adds to the complexity of his character that keeps you absorbed in the movie.
The screenplay by Ramsay, which is based on the 2013 novella by Jonathan Ames, provides occasional glimpses into Joe’s past, which give us an idea of from where his thirst for exacting justice stems. We understand that Phoenix’s character has a valid reason for going after these criminals and committing acts of violence, but we also have to realize that Joe’s reasoning comes from things he’s seen in his past and that he might not be mentally sound. This all leads to a hard-hitting commentary on veterans and PTSD, which gives us clues as to why he became a vigilante. This also touches upon that, despite his abilities, he’s not being able to save everyone, which is something that’s seen with heart-rending effect.
Just as Ramsay accomplished with her last film, “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” she touches upon the brutal violence that can come out of everyday people and explores their psyches to figure out what drives them to these acts. And, for the most part, we don’t see the actual violence in this film, only the aftermath. This is an intriguing choice by Ramsay because it’s as if she wishes to protect the viewer from the psychological damage of experiencing the harsh acts of violence to which Joe has become accustomed, both before and after he became a hired gun.
“You Were Never Really Here” is a film whose effects linger in your bones. It takes you to a place where there doesn’t seem to be much hope, but offers hints of it from time to time.
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