You Were Never Really Here

Amazon Studios | Release Date: April 6, 2018

7.3	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 326 Ratings

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User Reviews

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darklordabc123Apr 17, 2018

Not my type of film. Lots of long, dramatic scenes, that are unnecessary for the plot. You could fit the plot synopsis in a paragraph. Not enough happens in the film to my tastes.

4 of 7 users found this helpful43

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moviemitch96Apr 20, 2018

What started out as such a smooth, intriguing, and flat out cool and promising first half hour quickly went downhill from there for me unfortunately. The good: Joaquin Phoenix and the cool and eerie soundtrack, as well as some 'Taxi Driver'What started out as such a smooth, intriguing, and flat out cool and promising first half hour quickly went downhill from there for me unfortunately. The good: Joaquin Phoenix and the cool and eerie soundtrack, as well as some 'Taxi Driver' and 'Drive' vibes. The bad: like I said, the first half hour had me so hooked and excited, but after that, the film became very scattershot and aimless, and most of the violent scenes weren't even all that violent or exciting, as it'd always cut away or simply only show the aftermath or the bodies afterwards. Where's the fun in that? And lastly, the ending felt much too open-ended to me, which isn't always a problem for me, but it just didn't work well at all for this film in my opinion. Overall, it was an intriguing concept and had such a cool vibe to it, especially in its first half hour, but it couldn't really keep that momentum or vibe for me much at all after that.… Expand

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

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HotelCentralJun 13, 2019

This is one of those films where everybody stares meaningfully at everybody else and the dialog occupies about three minutes of the total runtime. Also, there's a lot of popular music that I'm guessing comes out of the fifties.

Maybe it'sThis is one of those films where everybody stares meaningfully at everybody else and the dialog occupies about three minutes of the total runtime. Also, there's a lot of popular music that I'm guessing comes out of the fifties.

Maybe it's art. I'd rather play ping-pong.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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glibjibbApr 18, 2019

Incredibly boring, slow paced, too much downtime, and tries to be too many things. What I mean is: it has the setup of other similar "hitman saves girl" action movies, but the cinematography, audio design, and pacing of an artistic indieIncredibly boring, slow paced, too much downtime, and tries to be too many things. What I mean is: it has the setup of other similar "hitman saves girl" action movies, but the cinematography, audio design, and pacing of an artistic indie movie, but the narrative design of a crime thriller. It succeeds at none of these things. If, like me, you come from the trailer expecting tense and violent action, you'll be disappointed that it all happens basically off-camera. As others have said, far too much time is spent building up scenes with Joaquin Phoenix slowly walking through dimly lit areas taking up 90% of the film. Honestly this movie put me to sleep so I don't know if the ending makes it all worth it. Giving it a 4 because the performances were objectively good.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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fonzeaAug 23, 2018

The film begins with a great premise, a mentally scarred veteran who traverses the criminal underground for jobs and drugs. Accompanied with an electrifying and pulsating soundtrack, it promises tense thrills to come. When they do comeThe film begins with a great premise, a mentally scarred veteran who traverses the criminal underground for jobs and drugs. Accompanied with an electrifying and pulsating soundtrack, it promises tense thrills to come. When they do come however, it is often happening off-camera or simply skipped altogether, showing only the aftermath of a conflict. With the thriller aspect of the film missing, all that is left are long and often boring scenes of silent contemplation by the characters. The plot doesn't inspire you to think as it's pretty straightforward: Human trafficking is bad, and murder can make you suicidal. Don't intend to watch again.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

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amheretojudgeApr 7, 2018

where you spend your time..

You Were Never Really Here The bisection of the scrutiny is so convoluted that it allows the audience to work for it (that raises question whether it is worth it or not? and unfortunately it isn't) which iswhere you spend your time..

You Were Never Really Here

The bisection of the scrutiny is so convoluted that it allows the audience to work for it (that raises question whether it is worth it or not? and unfortunately it isn't) which is always good but if it fails to seek attention through this whole process the impact grows shallow. Having said that, the cinematography is utterly beautiful; despite the tone of the feature, there are few genuinely moving scenes like when the protagonist crushes a mint or his bitterly sweet moments with his mother. Lynne Ramsay; the director and screen writer, is no short on execution but its the script that never had enough crisp in the first place to blend in with the viewers. Joaquin Phoenix; at the heart of it, is so good that it aches you to see such a talent go waste by. You Were Never Really Here has short runtime which favors on its side along with brilliant execution, amazing cinematography and heart felt performances but unfortunately all of this is piled up on by this overthought out script that never reaches its destination.… Expand

1 of 10 users found this helpful19

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ScraperJul 13, 2018

The technical brilliance of these indie films can't make up for how detached they make the viewer feel as the main character breathes, pumps gas, drinks water, lies in bed, etc. You Were Never Really Here is a strange mixture of frenetic andThe technical brilliance of these indie films can't make up for how detached they make the viewer feel as the main character breathes, pumps gas, drinks water, lies in bed, etc. You Were Never Really Here is a strange mixture of frenetic and molasses-slow filmmaking. It's an interesting way to create an art picture and takes a lot of time and attention to weave together the details and cuts. But the lack of dialogue, general slowness, and how little we really know about the characters makes me lose interest.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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Voodoo123Feb 18, 2020

Quirky, interesting, disjointed, tense yet a touch too pretentious for my taste... and somehow very watchable. With a scatterbrain plot and various leaps of 'what is real', YWNRH is worth a look but for me, the film ultimately felt as if IQuirky, interesting, disjointed, tense yet a touch too pretentious for my taste... and somehow very watchable. With a scatterbrain plot and various leaps of 'what is real', YWNRH is worth a look but for me, the film ultimately felt as if I was watching a primer for Phoenix's far more notable later performance in 2019's Joker!… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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bdjudeDec 4, 2018

By its name really means, it is never really at anywhere. A mare overrated movie.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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JakobkrossJul 26, 2018

A great performance by Joaquin Phoenix and good cinematography is squandered by strange editing choices, a weak script, and an overall lack of clarity in what the film aimed to achieve.

Worth seeing if you want to see a great performanceA great performance by Joaquin Phoenix and good cinematography is squandered by strange editing choices, a weak script, and an overall lack of clarity in what the film aimed to achieve.

Worth seeing if you want to see a great performance from Phoenix, but otherwise? Skip it.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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GrachechkovskiJan 5, 2019

I really don't like this film and I'm glad that I don't watched it in theater. I love Joaquin Phoenix as actor and person, but I don't understand why he was worked with it. This is no like "Drive" movie, the characters are not disclosed hereI really don't like this film and I'm glad that I don't watched it in theater. I love Joaquin Phoenix as actor and person, but I don't understand why he was worked with it. This is no like "Drive" movie, the characters are not disclosed here from the word "fully".
Bad, very bad art-house movie in my vision… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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