Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
Lynne Ramsay is widely acknowledged as one of the great filmmakers of her generation, but she doesn’t get to make movies very often. We don’t want to call that gendered bullshit for which the entire industry should be ashamed of itself… but… well…
There was a 9-year gap between the Scottish auteur’s second feature, Morvern Callar, and her third, the universally-acclaimed We Need to Talk About Kevin. And there was another 7-year void between Kevin and Ramsay’s latest, You Were Never Really Here.
Inspired by a novella by Jonathan Bored to Death Ames, You Were Never Really Here follows Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), an unassuming, suicidal veteran and former FBI agent who now spends his days caring for his near-invalid mother and his nights as a gun-for-hire rescuing girls from sexual servitude. Only he prefers a hammer to a gun. Joe’s system seems foolproof until the day he is recruited by a state senator (Alex Manette) to rescue his daughter (Ekaterina Samsonov), with a special request to make the recovery really, really hurt for the perpetrators. Joe does so, but soon finds himself caught in a web of betrayals and conspiracy that might just swallow him whole unless he fights his way out.
But anyone hoping for Oldboy-style beatdowns came to the wrong dojo, as Ramsay’s decompressed pacing and hallucinatory visuals intentionally confound hopes for visceral thrills. Much of the violence takes place entirely off-camera, and the little we do see is fast, vicious, and at times sickening in its blunt ugliness.
You Were Never Really Here received a standing ovation when it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, and was widely praised upon release. Yet the film has been widely ignored throughout awards season and is expected to be one of the bigger snubs when Oscar nominations get unveiled on Tuesday.
So let’s give the film and its filmmaker its deserved day in the sun. Grab your hammer and take a seat, ’cause Two Cents is most definitely here. — Brendan
Next Week’s Pick:
Next up in our Awards Season concurrent For Your Consideration series, we want to bring attention to a powerful indie film that found its way to the Top 10 lists of a couple of our Cinapse writers. Bomb City tells the true story of a group of marginalized punks in 90s Amarillo, TX, whose escalating entanglements with local jocks which ended in tragic violence. Please join us in sharing this incredible story. — Austin
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
The Team
Recommended to me by numerous people whose opinions I tend to value, I made sure to cram You Were Never Really Here in for my 2018 list prep. I found myself underwhelmed at first, but I knew it was likely due to the amounts of praise heaped onto the film… so I stepped back and came back to it after an attempt to clear my mind and tamper expectations.
I’m glad I did because it’s a pretty fantastic film. It handles dark subject matter and intense violence in a unique Hollywood friendly kind of way. It’s rare that a film can truly appeal both as a dark exploitation film and an intense award season style drama. This accomplishes that blending to perfection.
What’s more is that the film has improved for me since I’ve gotten some distance on it and ruminated on its themes and ideas. Looking forward to diving in again in the future to see what else I can pull from it. (@thepaintedman)
Uninterested in action or entertaining set pieces, Ramsay is rather painting a portrait of rampant brokenness that is unflinching and confidently stylish. Every tool in the arsenal of a filmmaker is utilized by Ramsay and her team to craft a profound sensory experience that absolutely benefits from the theatrical experience. The aforementioned sound design is bold, editing and camera work are all fully employed to pull us deeper into Joe’s off-kilter reality. Jonny Greenwood’s score is as pure and jumbled as Joe’s own mind. Joaquin Phoenix embodies his character with the ferocity and commitment we’ve come to appreciate from one of this generation’s finest actors. Ramsay’s screenplay, based on the book by Jonathan Ames, ratchets up the tension and draws us into Joe’s world with flawless pacing and intention. This is an uncompromised work of a filmmaker who absolutely cannot be ignored. (@Ed_Travis)
[Excerpted from Ed’s full review]
You Were Never Really Here falls right alongside the likes of The Limey, Ghost Dog, Point Blank, and other various films that take stock pulp premises and approach them in an elliptical, subjective manner, favoring poetic styling over visceral thrills. As such, it doesn’t surprise me that You Were Never Really Here has flown under people’s radars, and maybe frustrated a number of audience members who went in hoping for a rampaging revenge picture.
Ramsay isn’t interested in the violent criminal world so much as she’s fascinated by the kind of man who would knowingly wade into such a hellscape. The narrative is more or less paint-by-numbers conspiracy hokum, but Ramsay’s camera and Phoenix’s raw-nerve performance more than compensate by locking you into the skull of a tortured psyche and refusing to let you free.
In Ramsay’s film, it’s an open question whether or not the cycles of abuse and trauma can ever truly be escaped. Phoenix’s “Joe” starts the film suicidal and he hasn’t moved the meter much beyond that by film’s close. But maybe it’s enough that these damaged people are clinging to each other and making an effort to soldier on despite all that. Or maybe the world simply swallows up the damaged and broken, as if they were never there at all. Either way, You Were Never Really Here gradually builds power until its final knock-out images, and I’ve found it near impossible to shake even days later. (@theTrueBrendanF)
You Were Never Really Here is familiar in plot, but differentiates itself in presentation. Stories of men (it’s always men) rescuing girls from sex trafficking aren’t new, but most of these follow the action route of violently declaring war against the bad guys (by no means a bad thing: Taken, The Homesman, The Man From Nowhere — all subperb). But for Joe, it’s just a job that gives him the opportunity to make a living by venting his aggression — until the moment where that changes.
Lynne Ramsay has crafted a film that shows a compelling and powerful depiction of depression and destruction, but refuses to give into fatalism. I’ve been actively disinterested in Joaquin Phoenix since his I’m Not Here-era bullshit, so I’m glad that we went with this pick, that I probably would’ve avoided otherwise. (@VforVashaw)
Next week’s pick: