You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay, 2017)

After much praise from the critics, we chose to watch Lynne Ramsay's film a few nights ago. It disappointed the whole family, with no exception. Having seen three quarters of the movie, we were all wondering where the high acclaim came from. Up till now, I haven't found any reasons to elevate "You Were Never Really There" to the designation of high-art, as many have.

It is a film that is fully aware of its "originality": the editing, with strange intercuts in the middle of sequences that take us back to the protagonist's turbulent childhood, the sound design. It is so aware that any sensitive audience will be tired of it by the second "wink", as I call these ostentations of style. There is barely any story: a man, traumatised by his past (abusive father, all that jazz), spends his days saving young girls from sex traffic in Manhattan in his own, violent way; a tale of revenge which doesn't really have a progression, there is no sense of a journey by the end of the film.

I've seen "Joker", with the same lead (Joaquin Phoenix) and a similar character, an outsider, who in fact also lives with his decadent mother and who also administers justice by his own hand. I know that "Joker" came afterwards, but regardless I see Ramsay's work as a poorer version of the latter. There is not much depth in this story that quickly grows in violence, deaths and leaves us with no conclusion, perhaps believing that it doesn't need one. I find it an arrogant piece lacking enough content to be self-standing. 

A few stylised shots like the one of Phoenix underwater when he decides to dump his mother's corpse in a river (I'm afraid that was a spoiler, but don't worry, her death is so absurd it will definitely still suprise you if you attempt a viewing!), as well as the aforementioned sound design that sometimes stands out, there is very little I enjoyed. Not even Phoenix, an actor I very much respect, can save the void. The girl that becomes his ally is an empty character, which is believed to gain resonance only by the act of killing. The conversations take place and they leave me indifferent. The ending has a barely positive note that is also weak, the only point in which I seem to agree with other cinephiles. I must be becoming too demanding in these weeks of reclusion...⧫½/⧫⧫⧫⧫⧫