Film Review: We Need to Talk About Kevin

Genuinely unsettling; We Need to Talk About Kevin dives head first into subject matter seldom spoken about but feared by most.

We Need to Talk About Kevin will resonate differently with each individual. It is a story as much about childbirth and the bond or lack thereof between mother and child as it is about the concept of nature versus nurture and trying to understand what makes people bad. One thing that will be agreed upon by all viewers however is the troubling nature of the film, not only the destructive behavior of its titular character but also the prospect of parenthood in all its uncelebrated warts and all glory. We Need to Talk About Kevin might just be the most unsettling movie of 2011 and is so without any of the violence or gore we have come to identify the word with in film.

As soon as the title screen fades to black director Lynne Ramsay’s film based on the Lionel Shriver novel of the same name begins an unrelenting and overwhelmingly tense experience that would make even the most celebrated horror film maker green with envy. Those already familiar with Shriver’s book will understand what’s coming and why Kevin needs to be spoken about. For those of us that haven’t read the source material Ramsay makes it quite clear early on that lead character Eva’s, a gripping Tilda Swinton, life has been irreversibly changed by her son Kevin’s (Ezra Miller) destructive nature in his teenage years to which the film is set.

The film is spent with a disconnected Eva reflecting on the past, specifically motherhood and Kevin’s upbringing, questioning what went wrong and how her parenting moulded her son and might of lead to his behavior as a teenager. Ramsay achieves this through a series of extremely well executed flashbacks which do a  good job of distorting time and reality. It is unclear throughout the film how much of these flashbacks are real and how much are blurred due to Eva being an unreliable narrator accounting her and Kevin’s relationship and his (in Eva’s eyes) inherent evilness, especially towards her. Shriver’s original novel; a series of letters from Eva to her husband conveys her untrustworthiness as a narrator much clearer than in the film. Ramsay has done a marvelous job in translating the letter structure without a voice over but it results in some scenes where Kevin resembles something more out of The Omen rather than a realistic young rebellious boy, something that will remove the film from reality for some viewers unfamiliar with the bestselling book. Although Ramsay subtly and not so subtly hints that some scenes are exaggerated by Eva I couldn’t help but feel the more over the top interactions between mother and child hurt the film as a whole.

As much as we do need to talk about Ezra Miller's portrayal of Kevin, this film is all about Tilda Swinton’s Eva. Eva is a broken shell of a person, exiled and ridiculed by the community she tortures herself by remaining in. Swinton is as mesmerising as some of the breathtaking shots captured by cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. In her family life Eva is a cold and dominant figure, as a mother she fails to connect with her child on any level and is uninterested in the domestic life her new-born son inflicts on her. Swinton it seems has made a career (at least in the multiplexes) of playing this type of unlikable character, yet here she is vulnerable and sweet throughout the film, strangely even as that cold and dominant figure. Ezra Miller as Eva’s son Kevin is equally compelling if not terrifying. He is as cold as his mother and an ever ominous presence from the first time Eva recollects him. The interactions between mother and teenager (Swinton and Miller) are the most thought-provoking and gut wrenching to watch. Their chemistry is undeniable even in the most disconcerting of scenes.

Genuinely unsettling; We Need to Talk About Kevin dives head first into subject matter seldom spoken about but feared by most. Losing your identity after having a child, the resentment and despair some parents feel when they are unable to connect with their newborn and the fight to love someone you don’t really like. Ramsay like Shriver before her question what impact we have on our offspring and how much of a parent’s emotion, struggles and nurturing shape their children into adolescence and then adulthood. For Eva these questions are a constant torturous battle to figure out what went wrong.

Verdict: See this.

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a fascinating yet gut wrenching movie going experience. Ramsay’s subtleness is the films only real weakness as some scenes suspend belief too much too vaguely. However thanks to two incredible performances for two justly memorable characters this is a film that captivates its audience from start to finish.  

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller, John C. Reilly
Run Time: 112 minutes