You Never Really Here is Grim without a Reason and thankfully, it does not try to explain why

If there is Joaquin Phoenix in a movie, I have a reason to watch it - things are that simple for me when it comes to trusting the starcast to choose a movie to watch tonight. But You Never Really Here tests this theory, this faith that the movies Phoenix chooses are invariably high on substance. For starters, the guy hardly speaks throughout the movie. Not that the action sequences are too stretched. There is an intentional slowness to the story but then again, there is not a real story here. Joaquin is remorseful, guilty, passive-aggressive, violently aggressive, repentful, and a lot more but the plot just does not allow him to really take upon the screen space he warrants. For some reason, the movie seems highly rated, and I can understand the intensity of characters in You Never Really Here, but there is no really story-telling here. If you really love highly intense movies, it might be just about a great choice. The bloody hammer shows up a lot and it is put to good use, very clearly hammering a number of people who have been judged by Joaquin. The slightly normal characters exist in the form of his frail and aging mother. Apart from this, there is plenty of references to the extreme filth that politics brings up and sexual crimes that are happening in a surprisingly organized manner. The movie seems mute in places, and it has nothing extra to it. You won't get a single scene where someone indulges in any idle chatter. If you can handle dark and rather grim movies, this can be a good pick. However, don't expect a reason for everything that transpires here - You Never Really Here runs with a lot of fragments put together and if you plan to watch it along with catching up on work emails or ordering something from Amazon, you won't feel like sitting through it. Either be absorbed into it or just let it go. Good? Definitely!