List of movies not to miss this year, specs and why.

1. You were never really here: April 6
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov, Alex Manette, John Doman
Director: Lynne Ramsay ( We Need to Talk About Kevin )
Why it’s great: You've seen hitman movies, but you've never seen Lynne Ramsay's hitman movie. The Scottish director, who many first discovered with 2002's elliptical nightlife odyssey Morvern Callar, can take a
John Wick -ian premise and invest it with new meaning by reframing it from an askew angle. This crime story, adapted from a novella by Bored to Death writer Jonathan Ames, is about an ex-soldier named Joe (Phoenix) who finds himself tasked with recovering a kidnapped girl amidst a sinister political conspiracy involving human trafficking. The tone of creeping dread and fixation on violent revenge recalls Taxi Driver , last year's X-Men shoot-em-up Logan , and Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive or Only God Forgives ; there should be nothing new to see here. What makes it so special? Between Phoenix's muted performance, Jonny Greenwood's string-drenched score, and Ramsay's expressive jump-cuts, every image crackles with energy, style, and possibility. It's a death-obsessed movie vibrating with life.