Review: ‘You Were Never Really Here’ is an Elegant Elevation of Pulp Crime Fiction
Lynne Ramsay’s 2017 neo-noir thriller is subversive, alluring and utterly gorgeous
It’s rare for me to talk about one of my absolute favourite films, tending to opt instead for things I have just seen for the first time or, if it is a rewatch, something connected to some wider focus at the moment. In the case of You Were Never Really Here, it is a film that, to me, lives inside its own bubble. That’s for two key reasons. Firstly, it is a film I hold very close to my heart, one I have turned to in low moods since its release in (late) 2017 time and time again looking for brief peace and solace. I still remember my experience seeing it in the cinema, an almost completely empty screening followed by standing outside in a light nighttime rain before being picked up and heading home, unable to say much and staggered by the experience. I must have seen this film more than 10 times since then.
Secondly, it is because this film is so distinctive in its heavily stylised approach to Jonathan Ames’ pulpy novel of the same name. When I read the novel a couple of years ago, I was only more impressed by Lynne Ramsay’s work on this film. Ames’ novel is a quick, breezy read, it’s fun and engaging, but this film… it is immaculate. Ramsay takes…
