Rent We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Cartoonish nonsense - We Need to Talk About Kevin review by MonsieurK

One wouldn't expect great subtlety from anything derived from Lionel Shriver's silly novel, but the crudity of this film is really remarkable. There's barely a single believable scene in the entire thing, as two ludicrously mismatched adults (he's an obtuse dimwit and she's an ex-"adventurer", we're supposed to believe - which just seems to mean that she's written some guidebooks) struggle to deal with a child who is borderline satanic virtually from the outset. Virtually their only attempt to address their son's behaviour is to consult a doctor whose perfunctory examination of the boy is every bit as absurd as the parents' inability to discuss the situation. Every single character is a badly drawn cartoon (the mother's lumpen workmates are a particularly ridiculous gang of caricatures), and the splashes of blood-red that appear as a visual motif throughout the film epitomise the heavy-handedness of the whole enterprise. I very much liked Lynne Ramsay's early films, but this is utterly woeful.

Disturbing, unsettling, haunting, creepy, harrowing - superb stuff - We Need to Talk About Kevin review by RP

Disturbing, unsettling, haunting, creepy, harrowing, superbly acted yet ultimately manipulative. I guess that describes both the destructive character of Kevin – and perhaps also the film. The story is told through the eyes of Kevin's mother, Eva Khatchadourian (superbly played by Tilda Swinton), formerly a successful travel writer but who can only find clerical work in a travel agency. Eva is hated and shunned by the community and it is clear that some terrible event has occurred. The grim story unfolds through flashbacks from before and after 'the incident'. Kevin's conception and birth has echoes of 'Rosemary's Baby' and Eva is ambivalent towards him, doesn't hold him close, doesn't bond with him, perhaps doesn't love him; in turn Kevin is rebellious and spiteful, even from a very early age. Is it nature or nurture? The only time he becomes animated is when read the story of Robin Hood, after which he becomes obsessed with archery... He sees his baby sister as a rival and treats her cruelly. Kevin is not your average nice boy. The film ends with Eva visiting Kevin in prison, ending on a nicely ambiguous note. This really is a superb film and while it has won many awards it missed out on the majors, and in my opinion (and of Dr Mark Kermode!) was cruelly overlooked for the Oscar nominations. Highly recommended – 5/5 stars.

Red Flags - We Need to Talk About Kevin review by griggs

Lynne Ramsay is one of the finest directors working, so We Need to Talk About Kevin is a uniquely frustrating watch — like seeing a virtuoso trip over their own laces. Her fingerprints are everywhere: the inferential storytelling, the sensory detail, the obsessive use of red — tomato juice, paint, jam, blood — as a marker of Eva’s guilt and mental unravelling. It’s striking filmmaking in service of a script that too often lets her down.

The characters are oddly flat for material this rich. Tilda Swinton is quietly devastating once the world turns on Eva, but for long stretches she’s boxed in by the writing. John C. Reilly is so wilfully blind he becomes maddening, which may well be the point. Ezra Miller has little to work with as Kevin beyond a fixed sneer, so it’s hard to know where the writing stops and the performance starts.

The nature-versus-nurture question at the film’s core — is Kevin a monster, or is that simply how Eva sees him? — is either the film’s great strength or its neatest dodge. Ramsay refuses to settle it. Some will call that brave. Others will call it evasive. Either way, it’s worth seeing, and definitely worth arguing about.