Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

You Were Never Really Here Blu-ray Movie Review

Taken aback.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 9, 2018

In case there’s a cable television executive out there perusing Blu-ray reviews who is looking for a killer concept for a reality series, I have one: lock Joaquin Phoenix and Shia Labeouf in a room together, Big Brother style, turn on a few cameras, sit back and let the performance art (and incredible ratings) begin. While I don’t think Phoenix has appeared in public with a bag on his head emblazoned “I am not famous anymore” (at least not yet, anyway), this recent recipient of the Best Actor award at Cannes has certainly given Labeouf a run for his “is he kidding?” money with a number of confounding interviews and other PR related appearances that may have left some fans concerned that the actor was traveling down the same drug riddled path as his late, lamented brother River. There’s maybe just a hint of that ambiguity between acting and performance (as in “pretend” acting) at play in You Were Never Really Here, but it tends to be more obvious in some presentational aspects like Phoenix’s hobo-esque appearance than in his actual characterization. You Were Never Really Here plays a bit like the flip side of Taken, with a lead character similarly on the hunt for a girl abducted into human trafficking circles, but in this case the “certain set of skills” that Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) indubitably possesses have been frayed by an unraveling psyche and some inner turmoil that have pushed the character to the brink of suicide. You Were Never Really Here is often viscerally effective, but it’s also hampered by a deliberately “Arty” approach that serves largely to draw attention to itself instead of supporting a story that might have benefited from more of a verité directorial style.

The disconnect between style and content is probably best exemplified by a film that obviously helped to inform You Were Never Really Here and which is cited rather prominently on a pull quote on the front cover of the Blu-ray release, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. But Scorsese had the good sense to frame his story within a grittily realistic context, something that added to and perhaps even reflected the psychological disruptions Travis Bickle was experiencing. By contrast, Scottish writer-director Lynne Ramsay infuses You Were Never Really Here with stylistic conceits from the get go, where an opening sequence features near hallucinatory sound design of at least two people whispering a “countdown” of sorts, which is then met with the unsettling image of Joe with a plastic bag over his head. Even this might be viewed as "grittily realistic" had Ramsay not opted for a montage like approach, and there are similar stylistic flourishes regularly skewing You Were Never Really Here away from its "kitchen sink drama" foundational elements toward something decidedly more in the Art House arena.

Joaquin Phoenix’s appearance in You Were Never Really Here might cause some to think he’s wandered in from a nearby bus and truck version of Nicholas and Alexandra, where he was playing Rasputin (albeit in modern dress), but unlike the supposed mesmermist of yore, Joe is often unable to control his own impulses, let alone anyone else’s. The character is a walking time bomb, haunted by memories of combat and what seem to be some childhood abuse issues (Ramsay’s tendency toward discursive and/or disjunctive presentational aspects doesn’t always help support a clear understanding of the narrative). Joe at least attempts to have a relatively normal home life with his elderly mother (Judith Roberts), but simmering psychological unrest bubbles over when Joe is tasked with retrieving the kidnapped daughter of a New York state senator named Albert Votto (Alex Manette).

Kind of interestingly, the freeing of Votto’s daughter Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov) is accomplished relatively quickly in the story (albeit with a rather staggering body count), a removal of the “damsel in distress” element that in and of itself makes You Were Never Really Here manifestly different from both Taken and Taxi Driver. However, there’s a whole nefarious corruption subplot in play that then takes over and which may be reminiscent for some fans of any number of other properties, including some “schoolgirl in peril” gialli like Enigma Rosso and What Have You Done to Solange?. What continually tends to disrupt the flow of the story, though, is Ramsay’s dual focus on terrifying violence (to say Joe has anger management issues may be the understatement of the decade) and stylistic peculiarities that are undeniably riveting but which tended to distance me personally from the more visceral aspects of the story.

If Ramsay seems a little uncertain as to how to approach this disturbing subject matter and this equally disturbing (and disturbed) main character, Phoenix commits to his performance with his typical intensity, bringing Joe’s anguished interior life to the surface even when the presentational style tends to keep the character at arm’s length. Ramsay is not a “frequent flyer” in film production, and her attempts to marry weighty substance with at times flighty style don’t always mesh perfectly here, though both her fans and appreciators of Phoenix may find this an interesting “near miss”.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was evidently less impressed with You Were Never Really Here than I was. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

You Were Never Really Here Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

You Were Never Really Here is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa XT as having digitally captured the imagery, though there's no information on the resolution of the DI (I'm assuming 2K, but if anyone can point me toward authoritative data that suggests a 4K DI, let me know and I'll update the review). Ramsay and cinematographer Thomas Townend play with perspective and framings throughout this presentation, though detail and fine detail levels tend to be quite impressive, at least when lighting and/or grading choices don't get in the way. As can be seen in several of the screenshots accompanying this review, large swaths of the film are graded toward cool blue tones, and at times that approach coupled with less than optimal lighting conditions can lead to deficits in both shadow definition and fine detail levels. Other parts of the film, though, look rather natural in terms of palette, and in fact some selected scenes are rather warm looking, with nicely vivid saturation levels. There are a number of kind of interesting "still life" compositions (see screenshots 9 and 17), some of which utilize backlighting which tends to create effulgent glows around some objects. There are also some uses of supposed "closed circuit" imagery where detail levels are understandably mitigated (see screenshots 11 and 16).

You Were Never Really Here Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

You Were Never Really Here's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers an immersive rendering of a rather nuanced sound design, one that begins from the get go with the whispered countdowns. There's almost a "montage theory" at play in terms of some overlapping sound elements, and effects tend to waft between the surround channels, perhaps indicative of Joe's unraveling mental state. That said, there are long dialogue sections in the film where things tend to be anchored more centrally, leaving some of Ramsay's patently odd source cue choices to fill the surrounds (try to think of the last film you saw that offered a soundtrack with both Bernard Herrmann and Engelbert Humperdinck - the pop singer, not the classical composer). Dynamic range is rather wide and fidelity excellent throughout this presentation.

You Were Never Really Here Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

I think this may be one of the first, if not the first, Lionsgate release(s) where instead of Bonus Features listed on the Main Menu, it states Other Options. Those turn out to be trailers for other Lionsgate releases and bookmarks, neither of which I personally consider a "score worthy" supplement.

You Were Never Really Here Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was both taken (no pun intended) and frustrated by various aspects of You Were Never Really Here. The underlying plot involving the abducted girls is really rather hackneyed by this point, but the surrounding material, including the really fascinating if unsettling character of Joe, gives this film a rather undeniable power. That said, I wish Ramsay had opted for less of a showy style and simply let the story tell itself without all of the bells and whistles she's added to the mix. This is most definitely not a film for everyone, but for those who have like other Ramsay outings and who want to see Phoenix essay a challenging role, You Were Never Really Here comes Recommended.