Joaquin Phoenix was so committed to You Were Never Really Here that it became unwatchable for some audiences

Joaquin Phoenix is among the best actors of his generation. The Academy Award he received for playing the iconic DC supervillain Joker in the self-titled 2019 film is testament to his excellence at the craft. While Joker was the first time that Phoenix has taken home an Oscar; he had been shortlisted three times for the high-honors award.

One of the most impressive aspects of Phoenix's performance is his capacity to completely become a character to the extent that he merges with it completely—a trademark of method acting. A lesser-seen film where he adopted a similar stance is Lynne Ramsay's 2017 psychological thriller You Were Never Really Here.

In the movie his Joe is a traumatized war veteran turned revenge killer who is an expert in rescuing abused or kidnapped little girls. Joaquin Phoenix's performance as Joe is brutal, violent and inwardly absorbed making it one of his most haunting performances so far. Although the critics were awed, the intensity of his performance pushed away some of the viewers.

Joaquin Phoenix's performance in You Were Never Really Here is hauntingly intense

Joaquin Phoenix has mastered playing emotionally wracked characters throughout his career. Joe, another of such a character in You Were Never Really Here where the audience is privileged enough to witness the actor's brilliance but his dedication to the act was too much for others. Vigilante killer tropes are nothing new to film but Joe is not the suave kind nor possesses a Hollywoodized origin story. What does he have, then?

Joe is traumatized, and not only the years he served his country in the military. He is also traumatized from the time when he was a boy in need of love and compassion but received beatings and cruel words instead. He and his old mother are both survivors of an abusive home where his dad used a hammer and instructed Joe to toughen up.

The trauma is so ingrained in Joe that the only means he has of expressing himself is in self-sabotaging forms such as attempting to suffocate himself using a plastic bag or waving knives over his body parts. Put simply, Joe is PTSD and suicidal and the only reason for his existence is to rescue young girls who he thinks have a bright life ahead of them, something he cannot imagine for himself.

Joe understands when to become violent and how to employ the skills that he has learned as a soldier and as a hired gun correctly. He is merciless in seeking justice, regardless of the price. These are things that the audience can learn through watching the character since nothing about him is explained or wrapped up neatly and Phoenix commits fully to Joe's brokenness with stark honesty.

Joaquin Phoenix's Joe is not everyone's cup of tea

You Were Never Really Here earned a seven-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. Joaquin Phoenix won the Best Actor Award while Lynne Ramsay took home the award for Best Screenplay. Despite all of this, it remains one of the most overlooked films in Phoenix's filmography. The film's critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes is 89% but the audience score is significantly lower at 69%.

The reason behind this is not straightforward. Firstly, without dialogue-driven scenes or traditional structure, the bulk of the movie falls on the shoulders of Joaquin Phoenix. Although he carries that well, the total, unadulterated concentration on Joe could have left the movie emotionally draining for a few.

These moments of softness are brief and are regularly rudely interrupted by the violent flashbacks or dissociative episodes that plague Joe; with the audience having no option but the incessant look into his broken mind.

Furthermore, the undefined narrative and uncertainty of resolution left most viewers lost or annoyed. The somber mood and lack of definition were responsible for the rather chilly reception from the audience.

You Were Never Really Here is available to stream on Prime Video.