You were Never Really Here

This is a intriguing if slightly too artsy for its own good kinda thriller about a violent man pursuing violent ends in the name of justice in a heavily-overrun-with-criminals New York. It's a familiar setup that Lynne Ramsay breaks up by including almost subliminal flashbacks to the violent past of Joaquin Phoenix's protagonist, and much of the violence is done in a clear-but-allusive manner that means nothing is gratuitously dwelled on. But at the same time, I tend to think this plays more as familiar material with a mildly fresh lick of paint than anything more substantial - Lynne Ramsay's artful noodling doesn't really ever give us much of more depth or more soul than how we've seen it before, and this tends to remove the visceral pleasure of the familiar beats without really replacing them with anythign overly substantial. I left wishing for something more.