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YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE | FILM REVIEW
****
Dir: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
(15, 1hr 25 mins)
Playing like an arthouse Taken, this sinewy, lyrical thriller has Joaquin Phoenix on superb form as a numb contract killer for hire who is trying to find his humanity. Director Ramsey’s last film was the brilliant We Need To Talk About Kevin, again not a film you might want to continually rewatch, but hauntingly powerful.
Since then she nearly made a Western, Jane Got a Gun, which ultimately disappointed in the hands of director Gavin O’Connor and a confused script. She might have been relatively quiet of late, but this is a blistering comeback. Adapting Johnathan Ames’ spare novella herself, she has crafted an unflinching look into the troubled mind of a killer. Phoenix is an ex-FBI agent and war veteran, now making a grim living as a contract killer, dispatching people in the sex slave trade. Hired by a New York Senator to find his daughter and save her from a Manhattan paedophile ring, he soon find himself caught up in a wider web of corruption.
The plot however, takes second place to a riveting psychological study of a tortured man. Phoenix is on the verge of killing himself, a spring coiled way too tight, capable of horrific violence, but also sweet with his mother (played tenderly by Judith Roberts), with whom he still lives in a rundown apartment. They share a background of abuse which has sent Phoenix on his murdering way.
Ekaterina Samsonov’s Nina proves to be a catalyst for some sort of redemption; she and Phoenix spark well off each other, both damaged, both sharing pain. Ramsey winds the tension up tight – despite the arthouse vibe, this is a lean and raw film. A soundscape from regular Paul Thomas Anderson contributor Johnny Greenwood adds to the unease and a haunting use of the tunes Angel Baby and I’ve Never Been To Me brings more disquiet.
Director Ramsay’s fourth film is assured and gripping. After the lyricism of Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar and the horror of We Need To Talk About Kevin she has produced another film that will surely leave scars.
words KEIRON SELF
Out now in cinemas.