10 Great Films Under 95 Minutes Long
4. You Were Never Really Here (89 Mins)
Joaquin Phoenix was critically acclaimed for his performance as a misanthrope (Joe) who lives with and cares for his elderly mother well into adulthood. Sounds familiar? The film came out a couple of years before Phoenix’s Oscar winning turn in Joker, but parallels can be drawn with this somewhat prototypical performance for the iconic DC villain.
Joe is traumatized by his time in the military and now earns his living as a vigilante-for-hire, rescuing abducted girls from their captors. However, Joe’s most recent job involves him in a deep-rooted political sex scandal which the perpetrators will stop at nothing to cover up.
The film was compared to Taxi Driver upon release. Both films share an inherent seediness and chronicle the rapidly deteriorating mental state of their ex-military protagonists.
Even over the short runtime the film is a difficult watch due to its relentlessly bleak tone and mood, but Phoenix is magnetic on screen, as is often the case.