We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) Reviews

• Cupid's Arrow

  ferguson-62012-03-04

  Greetings again from the darkness. The Brady Bunch, this isn't. It's also not the place to look for helpful parenting tips. In fact, the story revolves around Eva, a woman (Tilda Swinton) who apparently didn't want to have a child ... at least not at this time, and certainly not THIS child. If you have seen The Omen, you probably gave thanks that you didn't have a child like Damien. At least we knew Damien was the spawn of Satan. Eva's son Kevin, is instead a good old fashioned psychopath. One who has an inherent need to cause pain and misery for his mother. What a pair Eva and Kevin make. From day one, Kevin seems to sense his mother's lack of joy in parenthood. And he seems to have a genetic disposition of making her pay. As with many psychopaths, his above average intelligence makes him even more dangerous. He is tricky enough to keep his dad (John C Riley) clueless as to his nature, while causing much doubt in the dad's mind as to the stability of his wife. My favorite part is actually how director Lynne Ramsay structured the storytelling. It goes beyond non-linear and actually bounces throughout three key periods: Kevin as a baby/toddler, Kevin as a 6-8 year old (Jason Newell), and Kevin as a teenager (Ezra Miller). Each age is progressively more frightening and disenchanting, and the film begins with what is an undetermined catastrophe. This event is slowly revealed over the course of the movie, though we witness events leading up to it, as well as the resulting fallout. There are a few scenes where Eva is scrubbing the exterior of her house in an attempt to remove the red paint that was purposefully splattered. As a viewer, we understand that she has blood on her hands and she seems resigned to the fact that she is now a social outcast, even a pariah. We spend much of the movie in Eva's jumbled thoughts as she tries to piece together what has happened and why. Of course, there is no answer. The title explains what was missing all along. There was no communication and no willingness to confront the problem ... a psychopathic son. To say they all paid the price is an understatement. This film has a very limited audience, though my claim is that Ms. Swinton was quite deserving of an Oscar nomination. She wears defeat like a mask and lives in isolation better than most could. Even the music is offbeat and unusual in its use ... thanks to Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. As filmmaking, this is high art. As storytelling, it's a bit muddled and quite a downer.

• A fantastic film by a great director

  stamper2011-10-27

  We need to talk about Kevin is easily one of the most harrowing films I've ever seen and left me completely empty. Lynne Ramsey succeeds where so many others dealing with a similar subject matter have failed, as she abstains from sensationalism and bloody detail. Instead she focuses in on character and relationship development and breakdown. Tilda Swinton gives a truly great performance and even though the main thread of the story is clear almost from the start, she and the rest of the terrific cast manage to keep the viewer glued to the screen. One of the most interesting facets of the film was that it showed how much power children can hold and execute over adults if they are given the opportunity. We need to talk about Kevin is quality from start to finish and deserves to become a classic. I'm looking forward to seeing many more films by Lynne Ramsay.

• extraordinary filmmaking, very disturbing

  rickcote2011-09-25

  I saw this film at Telluride by the Sea (Portsmouth, NH) prior to its general release. This is not a film I would choose to see normally, based on its subject matter. However, as a festival-goer, this was what was offered for the late evening screening. This film is visually stunning, and masterfully composed. You know early-on that a Columbine-style ending is inevitable, nonetheless hope that some miracle may yet occur to avert this disaster. Swinton is absolutely magnificent (as always) as the mother desperately trying to cope with raising a psychopathic child, but equally impressive are the performances of the actors who portray the developmental stages of Kevin from early childhood to the brink of adulthood. What elevates this film is the visual and musical narrative that accompanies the initial time-skipping introduction and then the more linear progression of Kevin's growth to its final, terrible conclusion. Interestingly, the emotional crescendo of the film occurs not near the end when Kevin carries out his horrific violence, but rather in the middle of the film at moments when we observe the impossibility of living a "normal" family life with a child who is incapable of feeling or expressing the human emotions that bind us together.

• Bad Mother or Evil Seed?

  dharmendrasingh2011-10-30

  This is quite simply one of the best films of the year. Even the book's author, Lionel Shriver (a woman) praises the film, calling it 'a brilliant adaptation'. Being a first-time dad, the story fascinated me. What happens if you don't love your own child... and they know it? Tilda Swinton, not normally a favourite of mine, is exceedingly good as Eva, the mum uninterested in maternity. Gravid when she least wants to be (she's career-minded), out pops Kevin, her little Damien. You know from the moment she refuses skin-to-skin things are not going to bode well. She has no idea how to deal with a baby. Her idea of subduing him is to stand next to a pneumatic drill to drown out his relentless screaming. Kevin grows up knowing he is unloved and demonstrates this through devilish behaviour towards Eva. Gradually Eva, if not embraces motherhood, then at least gets better at it. Perhaps this is due to her giving birth to her second child, a girl, who Kevin of course hates with a passion. Or maybe the idea of being a mum sinks in, along with the realisation that a career is not the most important thing in life. Eva's betterments do nothing to placate Kevin: he gets worse. Eva's attempts to complain are met with ridicule by the father (John C. Reilly), who thinks she is delusional. Years of unintentional, but sometimes intentional, neglect take their toll on Kevin, and the film's tragic conclusion seems inevitable. The origin for Kevin's behaviour has polarised audiences. Did Eva create a monster by failing to form a bond early on? Should she have sought help from professionals if she felt she wasn't coping? Or was Kevin simply a bad seed; an innately evil child who no one could have cured? Now that I've had the chance to reflect, I think it's unfair to judge son or mother. I'd be surprised if Ramsay wanted audiences to do that. What would be the point? The film is a starkly brilliant exploration of a failed relationship and the consequences that has on a family and an entire community. If Swinton can win an Oscar so easily for her role in 'Michael Clayton', she should be celebrating her second win now. It's one of those performances which needs months of detoxification and psychoanalysis to move on from. Her acting is matched by new-kid-on-the-block Ezra Miller, who plays her lovelorn son. He brings to his role a controlled ferocity we are not used to seeing. His portrayal works, apart from his first-class acting, because he's not the stereotype. To look at him, you would say he was handsome and ingenuous. But looks are deceptive. It's hard for people to be repulsed by films nowadays, but there are scenes which will shock. So rare is it to see this kind of film. They vanish as quickly as they appear. I implore you to see this if you can. You'll be moved if not entertained. www.moseleyb13.com

• The irony in the title...lol

  GuRUCLANdotcom2018-03-23

  I thought I was going to be watching an Omen type typical horror movie. Couldn't really tell from the wardrobe and the way cars and things looked what year it was...looked like it took place in the 90's since no one ad a smart phone at any point. Anyway....I digress.... LOL. Overall I found the movie entertaining. Some questions weren't answered. The pacing had me super anxious for the story to unfold...what the hell was up with Kevin??? What did he do? The soundtrack was unsettling to a little annoying. There were no jump scares or horror movie music which I now realize is an easy hat trick that helps me sense what's about to happen or take note of something. Aside from random folk songs here and there the movie is utterly quiet. OK...so spoiler time. At some point in the film i'm like okay... When TF are they going to have the "we need to talk about Kevin" conversation???? And then I laughed to myself,.....and thought..."ah-ha! never happened" therein lying a huge part of the problem. One reviewer wrote, that he thought it was stupid because no child is born evil, and no parent wold have handled a child who behaved this way so poorly. I beg to differ and offer examples such as Jeffrey Dahlmer who was quoted as saying, "I had a normal loving childhood, my parents are not to be blamed for what I have done....I am just evil." And don't even get me started on what could lead a child to execute any number of the mass school shootings that seem to occur monthly here in the United States. A child, aside from being exceptionally smart, can be atypically cold, unsympathetic, calculating and cruel but the question is why? Quite frankly, there is such a thing as poor parenting due to lack of experience, common sense, priorities, coping skills, selfishness and denial. Newsflash... just because a person is capable of producing a child doesn't necessarily mean they should given certain circumstances. There was definitely some serious and obscure hard to pin point problems with Kevin. He wasn't autistic, but it was something not to far off like maybe Asberger's Syndrome. His mental problem apple didn't fall far from its tree. When this movie ended I turned around and watched it again looking a bit closer for the answer to my unanswered questions. It was clear that the mother was not thrilled with this pregnancy. They say normally a woman glows, it is an amazing experience yada yada yada, but this clearly wasn't Mommer's experience. The birthing experience didn't seem to go well at all, and immediately after Kevin's born, she appears to be suffering PPD which develops in a lot of women after child birth. It seems while Kevin was a very tiny baby and small child Mommer didn't cope well with or ever bond with Kevin. In Kevin's defense, a baby can't have a personal vendetta against someone.....or could he???? LOL. And honestly after looking at again....Mommer was definitely off a little herself as far as having traits that Kevin exhibited, lack of emotion, sympathy, and she was also reluctant to communicate. No normal person could have dealt with the aftermath the way she did. Mommer completely failed Kevin as there was at no point any outreach for help, therapy or intervention of any kind. She had the money, which meant she could have easily obtained those resources for Kevin. Mommer and Kevin both seemed to resent each other but it seemed to me she began to resent him while still in the womb. Maybe that feeling during the early life stage played a huge and detrimental part in Keven's early childhood development. Maybe that's when those seeds were planted...maybe his behavior was a little payback for never feeling loved. Kevin at an early age was very intelligent and calculating having the upper hand on Mommer. No parent should let a child assume the role of telling the parent what to do and the parent be looking to the child for direction and approval. That routine proved to be a huge disservice to Kevin and everyone else in the wake of his final epic act of detachment. I think there are a lot of little "Kevins" brewing in today's society from a combination of any number of anti-personality disorders be it from poor genetics, subjectively poor environment or poor parenting skills. The only thing I didn't quite get was why the community with the exception of one wheelchair bound kid from the neighborhood had no sympathy for Mommer in the the aftermath. The story wasn't developed enough to know why they felt she was directly responsible for Kevin's actions aside from giving him the opportunity to be born. I mean hay, I would assume that any kid that does what Kevin enacted was somehow failed by his parents, but I don't know, maybe people would react this way? Maybe that's something we could never know unless we found ourselves being in a perfect storm situation like Mommer. No one really knows what it's like for the parents of these kids who have committed these types of atrocities after the 10 o'clock news has moved on to the next big story. These people may still have to live in their homes, go to their jobs, deal with looks, whispers, assumptions and accusations from their neighbors and locals in the community who haven't so quickly forgotten. Especially survivors, and friends and relatives of the recently dearly departed victims. Anyway....this was definitely a march to the beat of a different drummer type film in a lot of ways, but it was an interesting piece of entertainment.