You Won’t Be Alone (But Maybe You Should Be)
You Won’t Be Alone (2022)
Directed by Goran Stolevski
Starring Noomi Rapace, Alice Englert, and Anamaria Marinca
Here we go again. I’m writing a film review while simultaneously preaching “Optimum immersion” (seeing a movie before you’ve heard anything about the plot). It’s kind of like posting on Facebook about how evil Facebook is. Who will listen? Hopefully you, my dear reader, as I aim to provide context and guidance to help you choose which films to watch WITHOUT ruining your chance at Optimum Immersion. And this is a film you should watch.
I had the pleasure of seeing You Won’t Be Alone in the theater, alone. I hadn’t seen a trailer or even a poster except the one I saw outside the theater that day. As I glanced at the poster, one name stood out.
That was the name Noomi Rapace, an actor I’ve been a fan of since 2009 when she began her role as Lisbeth Salander in a trilogy of Swedish films, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. From there, she transitioned to Hollywood with excellent roles in the second Sherlock Holmes (2011) film from Guy Ritchie, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012) and most recently A24’s Lamb, one of my favorite films of 2021. So, in a way, even though I was about to be “Optimally Immersed,” I felt comforted knowing that at least one of the actors was worthy of my time and money.
What I got for my time and money was an amazing cinematic experience… the kind I hadn’t felt since seeing Parasite under similar circumstances in 2019. Rapace was great and the rest of the cast – the actors I didn’t see on the posters – was up to the task as well.
The last thing I want to do is ruin your optimum immersion, so I will tread lightly. This a film about the struggles and joy of humanity. There are scenes of unsettling gore, but they are in service of an ancient story… and ancient story that MUST be told. I feel changed for the better after watching this film. What monsters lurk in the past for each person I come into contact with? Am I helping them escape these monsters? Or are my actions however insignificant they seem sending them back into the arms of their tormentors?
Beautifully shot, never boring and always pushing the story forward, I left the theatre with my mouth agape, pondering my existence and place in the universe. In fact, You Won’t Be Alone is my favorite film of 2022 so far.
If other films I went to alone in the theater and knew nothing about, like Parasite (2019) and C’Mon C’Mon (2021), were both an A+ then so is this first film by Goran Stolevski. I long for another chance to feel this way after watching a film I know nothing about in advance.
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