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You Were Never Really Here poster

Movies that feel likeYou Were Never Really Here (2017)

A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe's nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered—leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.

If you loved You Were Never Really Here, the closest films we have are Side Effects (2013), The Devil All the Time (2020) and Hard Candy (2006). All three share You Were Never Really Here's gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Charley Varrick (1973).

🍅 89% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Lynne Ramsaygrittycontemplativetensemelancholy
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If You Were Never Really Here hit the spot, these will too

Side Effects poster
Side Effects
2013 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 82%★ 7thriller · crime · dramaPrime VideoParamount+

Both rooted in New York City

A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison.

The Devil All the Time poster
The Devil All the Time
2020 · dir. Antonio Campos
🍅 65%★ 7.1crime · drama · thrillerNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: murder

In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.

Hard Candy poster
Hard Candy
2006 · dir. David Slade
🍅 67%★ 7drama · thriller

The same mix in both: grit, then stillness

Hayley’s a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff’s a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff’s place. Jeff thinks it’s his lucky night. He’s in for a surprise.

21 Grams poster
21 Grams
2003 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 80%★ 7.6drama · crime · thriller

Tense where it counts, melancholy underneath

Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife and mother of two girls; and Jack Jordan, a born-again ex-con, are brought together by a terrible accident that changes their lives.

Hell or High Water poster
Hell or High Water
2016 · dir. David Mackenzie
🍅 97%★ 7.6western · crime · dramaMax

Crime built on grit, twice over

The difference: Leans further into western

A divorced dad and his ex-con brother resort to a desperate scheme in order to save their family's farm in West Texas.

Thief poster
Thief
1981 · dir. Michael Mann
🍅 80%★ 7.4crime · thriller · dramaPrime Video

Contemplative drama in both cases

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

Death Wish poster
Death Wish
2018 · dir. Eli Roth
🍅 18%★ 6.3action · crime · thriller

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A mild-mannered father is transformed into a killing machine after his family is torn apart by a violent act.

Frailty poster
Frailty
2002 · dir. Bill Paxton
🍅 76%★ 7.2drama · thriller · crime

Both keep coming back to the same thing: flashback

A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."

Charley Varrick poster
Charley Varrick
1973 · dir. Don Siegel
🍅 82%★ 7.5crime · thriller · drama

Crime with a pulse of melancholy, in both cases

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

Short Term 12 poster
Short Term 12
2013 · dir. Destin Daniel Cretton
🍅 98%★ 7.9dramaPrime Video

Both lean on grit more than on drama

The difference: Goes its own way on the tension

Grace, a compassionate young supervisor at a foster care facility, helps at-risk teens. But when a new charge dredges up memories of her own troubled past, Grace's tough exterior begins eroding.

Lilya 4-ever poster
Lilya 4-ever
2002 · dir. Lukas Moodysson
🍅 84%★ 7.8drama · crime

Both lean on stillness more than on thriller

In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life — and a journey that will change everything.

Elle poster
Elle
2016 · dir. Paul Verhoeven
🍅 91%★ 7.1drama · thriller

Tense drama in both cases

When Michèle, the CEO of a gaming software company, is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, she refuses to let it alter her precisely ordered life. She manages crises involving family, all the while becoming engaged in a game of cat and mouse with her stalker.

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The best-reviewed films that share You Were Never Really Here’s defining feeling.