You Were Never Really Here poster

You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Film · 1h 29m · Rated R

Crime, Drama, Thriller

A traumatized veteran's violent rescue mission uncovers a conspiracy, blurring the lines between nightmare and awakening.

Bleak and suspenseful. A full-attention watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is devastating.

Streaming on Prime Video.

You Were Never Really Here parents guide

No surprises for an R: moderate sex and nudity, and brutal violence.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares
A couple
One or two sudden jolts.
Gore
Graphic gore
Blood and wounds shown clearly.
Violence
Brutal violence
Our top level for violence.
Sex and nudity
Moderate
Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.
Language
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is You Were Never Really Here scary?
Only a little. You Were Never Really Here has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is You Were Never Really Here?
Graphic gore and brutal violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.
What is You Were Never Really Here rated, and is it OK for kids?
Rated R, and it earns it: moderate sex and nudity, brutal violence, and some strong language. Not one for kids.

What is You Were Never Really Here about?

A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe's nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered—leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

It leaves the ending open to interpretation.

Cast and crew

Directed byLynne Ramsay
StarringJoaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, Ekaterina Samsonov, John Doman, Alex Manette, Dante Pereira-Olson

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.