Watch it again..
"You Were Never Really Here".. People have assumed the title was Joe's question of his own existence, purpose and reality.. but read it again and see that it is not a question but a statement. (I know I'm late to this discussion but I just watched this movie as it took a while to prepare myself what I knew would be a dark film. This is speculation and may be an already proposed interpretation was my personal take away from the message of this film).
A good director and script writer's choices are never arbitrary and often subtle. There are a multitude of references in this film but the most essential being christian iconography and the ideology of sin, guilt and resurrection.
I think it was Nina who was the "you" in the title. The diner scene shows 3 milkshakes, only two were empty, the third was placed where Nina was sitting and was untouched. Did Joe drink both vanilla and strawberry and ordered the chocolate for a hallucinatory Nina? Or did Nina drink one of the 3 them and was in fact real. And does it really matter?
I think she was real but Joe probably found her dead at the mansion and killed the governor himself, his final act of vengeance for the people he was powerless to or was too late save. He may have come to the realization that she was lost even before finding her as shown in his vision of her sinking in the lake-funeral of his mother but continued his search regardless of the odds of finding her.
The rest of the film portrayed his search for salvation. The only grace-saving resolution as to why all the people in his life were killed or harmed had to be in finding Nina alive. If he hadn't found her alive, death and suffering meant nothing.. like the girls found dead in the van/truck, like the validity of the war, like his father's abuse .. the tragedies would be all for nothing.
If he hadn't found Nina alive there was no hope or chance to overcome his PSTD and his obsession with the hopelessness of suicidality. Note that he never followed through with these attempts because of his attachment to a tiny hope that survived through all the incomprehensible experiences leading to a senseless life and the survival of senseless deaths.
Nina represented his desperation for salvation. When he arrived at the mansion, the windows shone unrealistically bright white forming crosses validating his mission. Her symbolically martyred death would offer the permission to forgive himself for his failed attempts to save others.
He finally succeeded suicide when he "shot" himself in the diner (not coincidentally, suicide is the only unforgivable Christian sin) when Nina left/abandoned him to use the bathroom. Only once she returned did he come to the revelation that it "was a beautiful day". She (or he) saved him/himself, providing the faith to let it all go and the possible resurrection of a new life.
To take this notion further, Nina may have been Joe's own alter ego. Nina was the victim of child/sexual abuse, possibly by her own father. Nina counted backwards to escape her reality. Nina was an innocent, needing to be saved. Nina offered comfort and rescue to Joe in the midst of her own pain. Nina suffered in silence, traumatized by her experiences. Nina was invisible to others at the diner. Nina killed in vengeance.
The diner/Nina scene was the manifestation of his salvation. The possible hope, albeit tentative, in the possibility of what could be and probably would be a long and difficult journey that lay ahead in his return to humanity.
The true question in this film was not if Joe was, or even Nina, was ever really here. The true query was "Where do we go?" and very real, very human response of "I don't know"..
In retrospect, the title may actually have be a question and not a statement, one of the attainability of forgiveness, redemption and salvation - Three: the holy trinity, a pagan magic number, three milkshakes.
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You Were Never Really Here
Joaquin Phoenix
(Actor),
Alessandro Nivola
(Actor),
Lynne Ramsay
(Director, Producer)
&
0
more Rated: Format: Blu-ray
R
IMDb6.7/10.0
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Genre | Thriller |
Format | NTSC, Subtitled |
Contributor | James Wilson, Ekaterina Samsonov, Lynne Ramsay, Alessandro Nivola, Alex Manette, Pascal Caucheteux, Rosa Attab, Joaquin Phoenix See more |
Language | English |
Runtime | 1 hour and 30 minutes |
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Product Description
A missing teenage girl. A brutal and tormented enforcer on a rescue mission. Corrupt power and vengeance unleash a storm of violence that may lead to his awakening.
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.4 ounces
- Audio Description: : English
- Director : Lynne Ramsay
- Media Format : NTSC, Subtitled
- Run time : 1 hour and 30 minutes
- Release date : July 17, 2018
- Actors : Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola, Ekaterina Samsonov, Alex Manette
- Subtitles: : Spanish
- Producers : Lynne Ramsay, Rosa Attab, James Wilson, Pascal Caucheteux
- Studio : Lionsgate
- ASIN : B07D57L8J8
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #48,236 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #1,118 in Mystery & Thrillers (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
3.2 out of 5 stars
3.2 out of 5
3,479 global ratings
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5 Stars
Stunning. Also, patience is a virtue.
Brilliant examination of a not often discussed grisly side of humanity. Be patient, Joaquin is giving you everything you need know with his hypnotic gaze. Masterful.
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2021
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2024
I've actually watched this movie twice now. It still feels too long. SPOILERS:
Joe (Phoenix) is a hitman retired military & retired FBI who has PTSD who retreives kidnapped girls who ended up in a human-trafficking situation. There's very little dialogue throughout the movie. From some of the flashbacks it looks as if Joe may have murdered his father, he saw a kid murder another kid over a candybar that he had given the kid, and he saw a truck full of deceased bodies of women who were being trafficked but died before that happened. That seems to be the backstory but not sure.
Joe is hired by a senator to find his daughter who's been running away but somehow the senator has the address of where his daughter is located (?). This is never addressed clearly in the movie. Joe rescues the daughter and takes her to the place that he & the senator agreed to meet. However, while they're waiting for the senator in the hotel room the news is covering the "accidental" fall from a highrise of the senator who fell to his death. There's a knock on the door when he opens the door Joe's shot in the head and the girl is taken from him. Joe goes to his "matchmaker" who's dead, he tries to call the middleman & his son who're also dead, he goes to his mother's house and she's dead as well. While in his mother's house, he hears people downstairs, he shots both but doesn't kill one right away so he can get information. The info? The Governor and Senator were trading girls. THEY were doing the trafficking but the senator changed his mind.
Joe lets the guy die on his kitchen floor then takes his mother's body and puts her to rest in a lake/river somewhere then he goes to get the girl again at the Governor's house. However, when he finds the Gov. he's already dead and the girl is sitting at the dining room table eating peas with blood on her hands from killing the Gov. Then they leave and go to a restaurant having the following conversation: "Where do we go now?" girl. "Where ever you want." Joe. THE END.
No joke.
I just told you the whole movie.
I hope this helps someone. This is an extremely quiet movie with zero plot direction so if you're not paying close attention you may not catch the very quick flashbacks. Oh...and Joe's suidical too. I have zero idea what the statement of this movie was trying to make. I've watched it twice a couple of years apart and I still do not like it. It gets one star because I know that some people do enjoy this show but for me it's just too artsy-fartsy (IN MY OPINION). There is nothing wrong with enjoying this movie and there's nothing wrong with not enjoying it. It all comes down to preference. I don't mind artsy movies but this one missed the mark for me.
Again...I hope this review/recap helps someone decide. I will say that I watched it for free both times. I wouldn't spend money on this.
Enjoy and see you next time!
Joe (Phoenix) is a hitman retired military & retired FBI who has PTSD who retreives kidnapped girls who ended up in a human-trafficking situation. There's very little dialogue throughout the movie. From some of the flashbacks it looks as if Joe may have murdered his father, he saw a kid murder another kid over a candybar that he had given the kid, and he saw a truck full of deceased bodies of women who were being trafficked but died before that happened. That seems to be the backstory but not sure.
Joe is hired by a senator to find his daughter who's been running away but somehow the senator has the address of where his daughter is located (?). This is never addressed clearly in the movie. Joe rescues the daughter and takes her to the place that he & the senator agreed to meet. However, while they're waiting for the senator in the hotel room the news is covering the "accidental" fall from a highrise of the senator who fell to his death. There's a knock on the door when he opens the door Joe's shot in the head and the girl is taken from him. Joe goes to his "matchmaker" who's dead, he tries to call the middleman & his son who're also dead, he goes to his mother's house and she's dead as well. While in his mother's house, he hears people downstairs, he shots both but doesn't kill one right away so he can get information. The info? The Governor and Senator were trading girls. THEY were doing the trafficking but the senator changed his mind.
Joe lets the guy die on his kitchen floor then takes his mother's body and puts her to rest in a lake/river somewhere then he goes to get the girl again at the Governor's house. However, when he finds the Gov. he's already dead and the girl is sitting at the dining room table eating peas with blood on her hands from killing the Gov. Then they leave and go to a restaurant having the following conversation: "Where do we go now?" girl. "Where ever you want." Joe. THE END.
No joke.
I just told you the whole movie.
I hope this helps someone. This is an extremely quiet movie with zero plot direction so if you're not paying close attention you may not catch the very quick flashbacks. Oh...and Joe's suidical too. I have zero idea what the statement of this movie was trying to make. I've watched it twice a couple of years apart and I still do not like it. It gets one star because I know that some people do enjoy this show but for me it's just too artsy-fartsy (IN MY OPINION). There is nothing wrong with enjoying this movie and there's nothing wrong with not enjoying it. It all comes down to preference. I don't mind artsy movies but this one missed the mark for me.
Again...I hope this review/recap helps someone decide. I will say that I watched it for free both times. I wouldn't spend money on this.
Enjoy and see you next time!
Top reviews from other countries
Chris McMechan
5.0 out of 5 stars
arrived on time
Reviewed in Canada on February 16, 2023
really good movie...i recommend it...
Quinten
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is still a good blu ray
Reviewed in Germany on June 1, 2021
It is a really good blu ray but i wish there were more special features on it but it is still a very good blu ray for your collection
Edgar Rubio
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excelente película
Reviewed in Mexico on March 12, 2019
Cruda y triste, con una actuación increíble de Joaquín Phoenix
Rolland Frederick
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular
Reviewed in Canada on February 2, 2021
This, was one of the best movies I have seen in awhile. Thank you Amazon, and the Director of this title. Wow! Joaquin pheonix was out of this world spectacular. Spectacular! Please buy, if you are a movie buff like myself. Respect n blesses.
Happy Cat
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Tedious, Reeking Pile of Rubbish!
Reviewed in Canada on April 27, 2023
A very tedious, boring and excruciatingly long trip (and I mean TRIP) into bizarro world, where nothing is as it seems. Keep a barf bag handy and wolf down a Gravol before watching this nauseating mess! Better yet, save yourself the agony and just skip this ugly little film.