You Were Never Really Here 🔨
Plus, the trailer for A24's newest horror movie and a review of 'Just Mercy'
⚡️ Happy Wednesday! One week until Christmas.
It’s the penultimate day of our month talking about my favorite movies of the decade. On Monday, we ventured into the New Zealand bush. Today, we’re going to the concrete jungle.
Also, the trailer for A24’s newest horror movie and a review of the new Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx film Just Mercy.
Okay, here’s day eight.
Today's Movie // Streaming on Prime VideoYou Were Never Really Here
Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), an army veteran, is a hired gun who tracks down kidnapped children. His handler John McCleary (John Doman) delivers him a new job to track down the kidnapped daughter (Ekaterina Samsonov) of a New York State Senator. However, the job quickly spirals out of control. (Trailer)
Why you should watch it: A third of the way through the breezy 90-minute running time, Joe lays down next to a hitman he has just shot. As “I’ve Never Been To Me” plays in the background, the two men lay side by side. The hitman extends his hand to Joe and they lay on the floor singing along.
It’s an odd moment of humanity in a movie filled with inhuman behavior and something you’d never see in another crime thriller. Ramsay isn’t interested in the violence aspect of the story, though there is plenty of it. Instead, she focuses on the characters and specifically Joe’s internalized struggle with his past. It’s essentially an arthouse version of Taken and it’s all the better for it.
Directed by Lynne Ramsay
Runtime 90 mins
Year 2018
Genre Psychological Thriller
📺 Buy or rent: Prime Video // iTunes // YouTube
Coming soon to theatersJust Mercy
Fresh out of Harvard Law, civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) ventures into the deep south to set up a non-profit giving legal assistance to wrongly convicted death row inmates. In particular, he works to save Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a black man imprisoned for the murder of a white woman. (Trailer)
My review: As far as based on a true story legal dramas go, Just Mercy is on the better side. To be frank, there’s often a limitation to the quality of these kinds of movies because they’re made to be accessible by a wide audience — usually by credence from the studio. And while it doesn’t really break out of the mold, the two performances at the center of the film are enough to power through any of the typical moments.
Foxx and Jordan are integral they are to the movie’s success. It’s a reminder that Foxx, who has down fewer dramas in recent years, is a terrific screen presence and Jordan, who was egregiously snubbed for Black Panther at the Oscars last year, is a bonafide Hollywood leading man who can easily hold the frame. (Full review)
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
Runtime 136 mins
Year 2019
Genre Legal Drama
📺 In theaters Christmas Day.
One trailer you should watchSaint Maud
Maud (Morfydd Clark), a hospice nurse and recent convert to Catholicism, becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient Amanda (Jennifer Ehle). However, as she becomes slowly more infatuated with her, Maud becomes scared the she’s being posessed as dark secrets from her past resurface.
My take: A24 has brought us some of the best horror movies of the decade, so that alone makes me excited for this movie. Even more than that, though, I’m getting strong The Exorcist vibes from this, which makes me even more intrigued.
Directed by Rose Glass
Year 2020
Genre Horror
📺 In theaters March 27, 2020.
That’s all for today. Thank you so much for being here.
See you Friday!
Karl (@karl_delo)