You Were Never Really Here follows the story of Joe, a gun for hire. We first meet him in a motel room after recently completing a job. He cleaned up his mess very carefully and snuck out the back. At this point, I was under the impression that Joe was a serial killer but there was no way to be sure due to the silent nature of the film. We follow Joe back to his house where he takes care of his elderly mother. At this point we see a sweet and caring side to Joe. It isn’t until after this scene that we realize who Joe actually is.
When we finally see him meet with a client, he is told to go rescue a young girl from a child sex ring. This is where things go sideways. During his attempt at rescuing the child, two men kidnap the girl and try to kill Joe. Along with this, someone had snuck into his house and killed his mother. With rage in his soul, Joe makes it his mission to take down whoever did this.
The film is silent for the most part. Even the dialogue between characters is kept short and quiet. At times I couldn’t even hear what they were talking about but there was enough context to know what was going on.
While the film was silent as far as dialogue, the score gave the film emotion. Each scene was filled with a dark and eerie soundtrack. Not to mention the weird camera angles. Some shots were angles strange and only added to that feeling of suspense you get from the music.
I enjoyed You Were Never Really Here because it’s different than most movies. The cinematography and score gives you an eerie feeling that is hard to create for most filmmakers. I was not a huge fan of the story, mainly because I was lost until half way into the film. Other than that, it was an interesting 90 minutes. I’d recommend this to someone looking for a suspenseful movie with meaning behind it. You Were Never Really Here is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
