Joe is a traumatized hired gun who rescues trafficked girls, using brutal methods against their captors. He cares for his elderly mother in his childhood home in New York City. Joe has flashbacks of the abuse he and his mother faced from his violent father, and his brutal past in the military and FBI, and is troubled by suicidal thoughts. As he comes home one night, Joe is seen by Moises, the son of Angel who acts as middleman between Joe and his handler John McCleary. Joe tells McCleary that Angel knows his address and may pose a security risk. McCleary assigns Joe a new job: a New York State Senator, Albert Votto, has offered a large sum of money to discreetly rescue his abducted daughter, Nina. He gives Joe the address of a brothel for wealthy patrons sent via an anonymous text. Joe stakes out the brothel, kills several security guards and patrons, and rescues Nina. While Joe and Nina await Votto's arrival in a hotel room, the news reports that Votto has committed suicide. Police officers gain access to the room with the help of the desk clerk, before killing the clerk and taking Nina. One of the officers attempts to kill Joe, but is instead killed by Joe who then escapes. Joe finds that government agents have killed McCleary, Angel and Moises, in search of Joe's address. Arriving back at his own home, Joe discovers that two agents have murdered his mother and have been waiting for him. He kills one agent and mortally wounds the other, who reveals that Governor Williams is directing the authorities to cover up the trafficking, and that Nina is Williams's favorite. Joe gives his mother a water burial. He fills his own pockets with stones and allows himself to sink into water with the intent of killing himself, but as he sinks, he has a vision of Nina and swims back to the surface. Joe follows Williams to his country home and fights his way in, only to discover Williams with his throat slit. He searches the house and discovers Nina seated at a dining room table, alongside a bloody straight razor. Although Joe is upset to see that Nina had killed Williams, Nina reassures him that she is alright. Later, while seated at a diner, Joe has a violent suicidal fantasy and passes out. Nina wakes him, saying, "It's a beautiful day." He agrees, and they leave together.
On 11 May 2016, it was reported that Lynne Ramsay would write and direct an adaptation of Jonathan Ames' novella You Were Never Really Here, starring Joaquin Phoenix. The project would be shopped to Cannes buyers. Although it was initially reported that A24 had acquired the project, Amazon Studios bought U.S. rights to You Were Never Really Here on 13 May 2016. Principal photography took place during August 2016 in and around New York City. On 2 May 2017, it was confirmed that composer Jonny Greenwood would score the film. The film was still a work in progress when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 27 May 2017.
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 266 reviews, with an average rating of 8.18/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bracingly elevated by a typically committed lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here confirms writer-director Lynne Ramsay as one of modern cinema's most unique—and uncompromising—voices." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, saying that the film "is a taut and almost unbearably intense 90-minutes, without an ounce of fat on it. Ramsay doesn't give you a second to breathe." Guy Lodge for Variety said Ramsay may be the world's "greatest working filmmaker," and called the film "astonishing... a stark, sinewy, slashed-to-the-bone hitman thriller far more concerned with the man than the hit." Some have noted similarities with You Were Never Really Here and the 1976 film Taxi Driver with both films involving friendships between an adult male and a child victim of prostitution and exploring the seedy underworld of New York City.
