We Need To Talk About Kevin

UK Release: Friday 21st October 2011

Watched in cinema: Sunday 23rd October 2011

Rating: 15

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Runtime: 1hr 52mins

IMDb Plot Synopsis: The mother of a teenage boy who went on a high-school killing spree tries to deal with her grief -- and feelings of responsibility for her child's actions -- by writing to her estranged husband.

My Review: Look at that poster: 5 stars all over! 

Now, I’d been following this film a little bit and was quite interested in seeing it, but how I got to see (most of!) this film is a little bit of an odd story. I’d found out about a free preview screening of The Ides of March in the Guardian and was delighted to see that it was being shown in my home town! I can’t express enough how rare that is! I went along looking forward to seeing this fantastic political thriller that I’d heard a lot of good things about, except... the cinema couldn’t access the film and so offered up some other films instead which we could watch for free. As soon as We Need To Talk About Kevin was mentioned the majority of the cinema buzzed and so we settled down to see this peculiar and intense film. 

This film is essentially a horror, reminding me a little of Rosemary’s Baby and was pretty uncomfortable to watch as the tension continued to build. Tilda Swinton was, of course, outstanding as the lead of the film, and is clearly being pushed towards the Oscar panelists, deservedly so. The entire cast, particuarly John C. Reilly playing both clueless Franklin, Dad of Kevin and Ezra Miller, playing Kevin himself, were top class.

However uncomfortable it was, it was completely gripping and very intelligently shot by Lynne Ramsay. It goes without saying that this is a very dark film with an odd genre, part horror, part drama, part thriller, part black comedy it has a nonlinear narrative; showing both flashbacks of Eva’s time before she got pregnant, bringing Kevin up and the aftermath of Kevin’s terrible crime. The audience isn’t shown what it is that Kevin has done that is so terrible, until, I believe, the very end. The film slowly pieces together how she got to a gaunt alcoholic, alone in a vandalised house dealing with the consequences of her sons actions.

The colour red is painfully dominant throughout the film; tomatoes, blood, paint, jam. It is a little self-conscious, but eery, and helps the incredible montage of beautiful images be even more enticing. I really wish I could of seen the end, but alas I had to catch a train to London! But the main thing I took away from the film was that it is most definitely enough to put you off being a parent forever!

Score: 7.5/10