You Were Never Really Here

2017 • 90 minutes

About this movie

Joe (Joaquin Phoenix, Her, Inherent Vice) is a hired gun who rescues trafficked girls, using brutal methods against those responsible. Caring for his elderly mother in his childhood home in New York City, he suffers from graphic flashbacks of his childhood, the abuse he and his mother faced from his violent father, and the brutal past in the military and FBI, and has suicidal thoughts. He embarks on a blood-drenched rescue mission, when Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov), the innocent 13-year-old daughter of an ambitious New York senator, never returns home. But amidst half-baked leads and a desperate desire to shake off the heavy burden of a personal hell, Joe's frenzied plummet into the depths of Tartarus is inevitable, and every step Joe takes to flee the pain, brings him closer to the horrors of insanity.

Ratings and reviews

Don't waste your money. I stopped watching this after forty minutes. In the first half hour you learnt nothing more than that he lived with his mother. On top of that the background music and noises were annoying and loud. Something finally started to happen after about forty minutes but I couldn't be bothered waiting around to see what went on.

This is not a good movie. Arty for artsy sake. Constantly attempting to define expectations by constantly making ‘what’s behind door number 3 ‘ choices with everything to the point where it’s just stupid and boring.

Slow burn thriller set in the world of paedophiles and where it reaches. Not as violent as I had hoped for and for all the hype that surrounded it at the previous film festival, I found it average. Joaquin Phoenix delivers his character brilliantly was the best thing about this movie. If it wasn't for his performance, I would have given this movie 2 stars