This is just another one of those Taken, "don't worry, honey, I'm coming for you" thrillers where a father figure takes on criminals to emancipate a girl from unspeakable horror (child sex slavery), but unlike others, this one doesn't just focus on the sheer violent spectacle of the father's revenge spree but develops the psychology of the protagonist, Joe, played by the wonderful Joaquin Phoenix, whose backstory of childhood trauma, unhealthy coping mechanisms and palliative care affords the derivative story a bit more poetry, dreaminess, lyricism and theatricality.
★★★☆☆
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