The comparisons have been made in many reviews before mine: elements of Taxi Driver and Drive; a sparse, unvarnished Taken. They’re all reasonable comparisons, the anger and inter-generational friendship of Taxi Driver are here, as is the brooding, barely verbal lead of Drive. While we may naturally look for comparisons though, You Were Never Really Here is entirely its own thing, a missive on the cyclical nature of trauma, more quietly brutal than any of the above.

Ramsey’s direction here is both glacial and sparse at the same time, precise and frenzied. Phoenix is excellent, and Jonny Greenwood’s score fits neatly, although I didn’t necessarily feel it expanded on his typical palette.

The villain is almost cartoonishly evil, with decor that I found to be a little on the nose; an outlier in a film that, for its subject matter, is generally able to be relatively subtle.

I found the ending to be slightly greedy on Ramsey’s part too. Although playing within the rules of film, and fitting tonally, it feels like an attempt to provide both a gut punch and closure, with neither particularly landing.

There’s enough here though to have a significant and complex emotional impact. Phoenix’s character here is layered, and the performance encourages a nuanced response from the audience. It’s highly impressive given how taut the film is, and You Were Never Really Here gripped me pretty much throughout.