We Need to Talk About Kevin

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.

It could have been excellent, but to me it was just good enough. I feel let down by all the reviews saying how difficult to watch the movie is. I didn't find it difficult to watch. At all.

Because to me, the movie barely scratched the surface, it could have been much more than what it ended up being. Everything was hinted at but nothing was really said. I expected to see the stages of atrocities committed by Kevin, but it was just different scenes all making the same exact point, there was no gradual progression. Therefore, the 'biggest atrocity' that happens in the movie didn't feel believable or interesting to me, at all.

Eva was a greatly portrayed character, and I like the fact that they didn't just paint her as a bad mother but as one who's simply trying her best. She felt very real to me. But like for Kevin, I feel that her character only scratched the surface and that we could have been given more insights into her thoughts and feelings. Her husband (and father of Kevin), however, felt completely useless to me. We are given some insights into their marriage and relationship, but given the title of the movie I expected the father to take a greater place in the story.

We have to talk about Kevin is a movie by Lynne Ramsay who has shown that he knows cinema and knows the language of cinema. This film is an abstract film and a unique tragedy of a woman on the verge of collapse. An attractive collage of color, light, pop music, red motifs and abstract images well created by the director. Although the film is weak in characterization, especially for the character of the father, but thanks to the good direction, the film is strong and interesting.

Some friends say that the film asks the audience many questions and puts them in different situations, but it does not tell or give anything to the audience, and I reply that this is exactly pure cinema. The film raises important concepts that people should talk about, such as violence and its origin, unwanted pregnancy and its effects, inappropriate attachment patterns, the role of parents, the institution of the family and the role of society, attention, and more. The film also blends time well with its structural pattern and keeps the audience in time, present and past at the same time. At the end, the film raises this important question: How did kevin become a monster?

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.

The story of a mother, Eva (Tilda Swinton), attempting to raise her deeply disturbed child, Kevin (Ezra Miller), before he goes on to commit a horrific act at his local high school.

We see her before the act and after, as she attempts to pick up the pieces of her shattered existence.

The narrative jumps through the years multiple times, giving us glimpses of Kevin's twisted, hate-filled relationship with his overworked, underappreciated, emotionally distant mother, Eva.

Each little jab turns into a bigger act of hatred, of defiance. A comment morphs into a slap. A poopy diaper leads to a fight which results in a broken arm.

It's hard to know how to feel. The jumps through time are often confusing, making everything feel like one run-on scene stretched far too long. The timeline is meant to be blurred, as though the passage of time matters little here. Maybe that's the point.

The warning signs regarding Kevin are all there, but Eva can't - or won't, it could be argued - do anything about them. Her husband, Franklin (John C. Reilly), is content in his role as the more "likeable" parent to Kevin, and ultimately he's utterly useless. He doesn't listen to Eva when she says something is wrong. He thinks she's to blame for Kevin's darker moments, or he chooses not to see them at all.

The family's little girl, Kevin's younger sister Celia, gets hurt at home, and Eva *knows* in her bones that Kevin did it on purpose, but she can't call him out because Franklin doesn't support her. Worse, he thinks she's projecting her own traumas onto her son (which may be true to an extent).

The situation is horrifying because we, the audience, know where this is going, but we are powerless to either understand it or stop it.

Would things have been different if Eva had been more loving? I highly doubt it.

Would it have been different if she'd been more disciplinary and authoritative, and forced her hand? Probably not.

It's true that some people should never be parents. It's also true that some children are monsters. Others can be saved. But could Kevin?

Though it's easy to throw around blame *after* a horrific events occurs, the truth is that nobody knew for sure what Kevin had planned. Could they have stopped it if they did?

Ultimately, the film frustrates because there's no easy answer. No conclusion. Everyone is to blame. There is no triumph of right over wrong. Life simply proceeds.