You Were Never Really Here

Over the years of doing these reviews I've really come to adore many indie films. What I was previously inexperienced in has become an exciting "new" (not really so new anymore) world of cinema. 

It's one where I can appreciate some more of the artistry behind a film and not just solely the entertainment value or wow factor -- two things I do still hold in high regard when I view films. 

Indie films have given me such delights as: It Follows, Anomalisa, Eye in the Sky, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and La La Land, just to state a few examples.

But then we also get films that, for whatever reason, I just don't connect with. I'd go so far as to say many of them are "overrated", but that's a rabbit hole I won't approach for now. Some perhaps controversial examples that come to mind are Boyhood, and Carol. 

You can go ahead and feel free to add You Were Never Really Here to that latter list. Unfortunately, it's also pretentious in the way that it's carried out; a trait that can hurt some films more than others. 

You Were Never Really Here sounds like a film that would be right up my alley. It's a dark look at a struggling "assassin" -- likely suffering from PTSD -- who gets wrapped up in an underground child sex trafficking scene. Maybe Drive isn't the best comparison, but something similar would have been appreciated. Instead we get a film that dives far too deep into the psyche of its central "protagonist" into a realm where everything just gets...weird. And not in the good "indie" unique way but more so approaching a point where it feels like the script and direction are just trying way too hard to be something. 

No one wants the man
bun to come back, Phoenix!

There is a highlight of You Were Never Really Here though and that rests on Phoenix's core performance. As weird as his character is -- and he is an odd duck -- the performance from Phoenix is quite brilliant across a wide range of emotions. Joe is mostly a loner, other than caring for his mother, and based on his past, he's truly damaged goods who can barely keep it together as he rescues this girl from her captors. His ability to display the passion of subtle, but ferocious anger and deeply troubled sorrow is captivating even if you may not understand the character. We're given enough bits and pieces of Joe's past to understand why he'd be that way but the flashbacks themselves are oddly timed and never fully shown. Additionally, his mental deterioration throughout the film begs the question: how was this uber-successful and brutal assassin ever talented/effective enough to get the reputation he did? He can barely hold it together. 

The film is logically put together from a story perspective, and I did enjoy where the plot went with some different turns than you may expect. It's just that the path to getting from suitable beginning to acceptable ending is overly long (or feels much longer than it is) and rife with choices that are simply just weird, especially for a film that seems to want to be somewhat straight forward in how its characters deal with their problems. Especially near the end it becomes particularly hard to track with Joe's emotions at all as he'll be dead-set on killing someone one minute and then cry-ripping his shirt off for really no good reason. I'm sure the film thinks of it as high art, and that's part of the problem: it's not. It just doesn't make sense in the moment. 

That's a pretty grumpy Santa Claus

A relationship that never
really goes anywhere...

Hurting the film even further are a handful of technical shortcomings too. While there are some great moments and frames of cinematography (a takedown shown all through security footage comes to mind) there is some truly bad editing -- again those flashbacks that never fully come to fruition -- and a pretty clear lack of any fight/violence choreography since basically all of it happens off-screen. Most odd is that the film has some very off sound editing. I caught on to a few things here and there, like a squishing jellybean making more sound than the characters talking, but unless it was my theater specifically there are moments where the editing doesn't even allow you to hear characters dialogue. For a film as highly praised as this one, I felt that these were perhaps the most unforgivable when it's so clearly an issue and negatively affects the outcome.

You Were Never Really Here has the shell of a really captivating film about a struggling man trying to (violently) do what's right. Parts of it are there but for the most part this film is trying too hard to be artsy that it detracts from an exciting narrative and a strong central performance. Throw the technical hiccups on top of all that and it's a forgettable, overrated indie to add to a small, yet unfortunate list on my viewing resume.

CONS

• Phoenix's character is attempted to be explained through incomplete flashbacks that never pull off what they try
• Some odd creative choices and character choices. There are too many things that feel "off" in terms of the reality of them happening that it gets annoying
• Moves very slowly at points, making the film feel much longer than it is
• Some weird editing and camera angles. Somewhat related, almost all violence takes place off screen and dulls the effect of the film's much talked about brutality
• Hard to track Joe's emotions/actions. Especially near the end
• Broken or poorly designed sound editing

PROS

• Joaquin's core performance is really impressive and exists across a wide spectrum of emotions
• Features a couple really unique and impressive scenes
• Core story/plot is well orchestrated

Rath's Review Score | 5.5/10